Journey Of Future Masters- Region 1: Kanto
by MCcheif25
Summary: In this AU. Follow The Adventures of Ash and Serena, Along With Their Childhood Friends Thomas and Macy, As They Travel Through The Kanto Region. Making New Friends, Discovering New Pokemon, Beating Gym Leaders And Meddling With A Terrorist Organisation That Is After Nothing Short Of World Domination.(Amourshipping) (Features slightly more mature characters) Please rate and review.
1. Chapter 1: Meet The Trainers

**Authors note- Howdy, so this is my first Fanfiction. It was an idea I've had for a while now, but never found the time to sit down and write the story. Recently, I have acquired a lot of free time. So I decided to seize the opportunity to start this story. Please leave a review if you enjoyed it, I will be including some OCs in this Fanfiction as Ash's traveling companions, I would love to hear your thoughts about the Story and Characters. And please don't flame me too hard if I make any mistakes, after all it is my first fanfiction and it is rather hard to please everyone. Feel free to leave constructive Criticism and ask questions about the story and I will try my best to answer those questions as well as take any advice left behind. Anywho please enjoy the first chapter of Steps To Becoming Pokemon Masters: Kanto Arc.**

Chapter 1

Meet The Trainers

It was late one evening in the small town of pallet in the Kanto region. Four young kids could be seen standing at a crossroads, a single street light lit up the area. One was a short girl with long, fiery red hair; she wore an orange sweater with a red skirt. If you were to spot her from a distance, you might think she was on fire. Her name was Macy Cinders. She moved to Pallet Town 5 years ago from Cinnabar Island with her best friend, who is now her crush. She is a very passionate girl who cares deeply for her friends and Pokémon. She also loved competitions and is a good sport, because of this she never had a hard time making friends. Her main flaw was that she has a very fiery temper.

The boy standing next to her was the tallest in the group, he wore a black jacket with a gray T-shirt underneath, and dark blue jeans. His hair was dirty blond and covered the tips of his ears and he had bright blue eyes. His name was Thomas Stars. He moved to Pallet Town from Cinnabar island along with his best friend Macy, they met Ash the very first day they arrived. They remained friends ever since. He was the glutton of the group, he often ate when he could but still he remained skinny. He has a very calm demeanor and can be very caring and intelligent, when he is not eating that is.

Across from him stood a honey-blond girl who was in a black shirt with a white-collar and a red blouse with black knee socks, her eyes where also a light blue color. Her name was Serena Jewels. She moved to Pallet town from the faraway Kalos region. When she moved her mother made her attend the Pokémon Summer camp in hopes that she would make friends. That is where she met her wonderful friends that stood with her at that moment, and her Crush, who stood right next to her. She is a very kind and sometimes shy person, but can be very outgoing when she sets her mind to it.

Standing next to her was a raven haired boy wearing a black T-shirt and blue jeans; his raven hair was messy and spiky, and he had kind brown eyes. His name was Ash Ketchum. Like Macy, he cared very deeply for his friends and Pokémon, but sometimes he makes rash decisions that often landed him in trouble. He loved to have fun and be with his friends. And tomorrow was the day they could all receive their starter Pokémon from Professor Oak, and start their Pokémon journeys.

The four friends said goodnight and waved goodbye as they each went down a different road, each one lead to one of four houses, all of which looked very similar except for color.

On the second floor of the red-painted house, Macy had changed into her night-gown and tried to get to bed early, since tomorrow would be the day she would set out on her Pokémon journey. Unexpectedly, the phone on her nightstand starting to ring, she picked it up.

"Hello?" asked Macy, wondering who would be calling her at this time of night. On the other side of the phone, was Serena, she was also in her pajamas. "Hi Macy, sorry to call you so late, but I just can't sleep" Serena replied apologetically.

"Its fine, I don't think I could sleep either, I got too much on my mind." Macy replied, she sat on her bed. "Tomorrow is the day we finally become trainers and can leave Pallet town to travel the region" she said, her crimson eyes full of wonder and excitement.

"Yea, it sure is exciting" Serena replied, but there was one thing that bothered her. "but I don't want to travel alone. It would be my first time out of Pallet town and it wouldn't be very fun traveling all alone. I was thinking about asking Ash if I could travel with him" a slight blush came to her face.

"Hehehe" Macy giggled; "I knew you would say something like that, but, truth be told, I was thinking about asking Thomas if I could travel with him also." she began blushing as well, she had a crush on Thomas ever since they were young.

"Oh really? Maybe we could all travel together!" Serena said excitedly. The thought of traveling the region with her friends, including her crush, Ash Ketchum, made her giddy with excitement.

"That's a great idea!" Macy replied "but now we should probably focus on getting some sleep so we aren't late". She brought up a good point, after all, none of them wanted to be late.

"That's probably a good idea, see you tomorrow at the lab." Serena said while yawning, she promptly fell asleep on her bed, forgetting to hang up the phone.

"Hello?" Macy's voice can be heard through the phone speakers, "Serena? Are you there?". All Macy got in reply was the sound of Serena's snoring, Macy laughed, for as delicate and shy as Serena was, she sure did snore loudly.

* * *

It was early morning in Pallet town, just about everyone was up and ready to start the day. Except for new trainer Thomas, who was still loudly snoring in his bed. His snoring got so loud to the point where it shook the bed. The alarm clock on the shelf above his bed decided it had enough, and fell off the shelf to smack Thomas in the forehead.

"Owwwwwww" Thomas moaned as he woke up and rubbed his head, his eyes shot open as he picked up his clock and looked at the time. "WHAT, 9:45! I GOT TO BE AT THE LAB IN 15 MINUTES". The 12yr old boy quickly jumped out of bed and struggled to get dressed. Fortunately, he wasn't the only one who had problems waking up that morning.

"Ash! Go go go! You're going to be late" shouted Delia Ketchum as she shoved her 12yr old son out the front door. "You don't want to keep all your friends waiting, do you?"

"Of course not mom" the raven haired boy replied as he got into a running stance. "Now if you will excuse me I got a Pokémon to choose." He darted down the road as fast as he could towards the Pokémon lab, leaving behind a trail of dust. He caught up to Serena, who also woke up late and was running to the lab.

"Good…..morning…..Serena" Ash said between breaths as he continued running alongside her. "Morning... *gasp*... Ash" Serena replied, also running out of breath.

"Guys! Hey wait for us!" a voice shouted. Both Ash and Serena turn around to see their friends Macy and Thomas running just a few yards behind them, Thomas was holding a half-eating breakfast muffin in his hand.

"Come on guys we are almost there! Today we become great Pokémon trainers!" Ash shouted with a grin, he jumped into the air with excitement, causing Serena to smile at him.

The group finally reached the lab, even though it looked more like a farmhouse than a laboratory, each one of them was completely out of breath. Everyone was wearing their same clothes from when they met at the crossroads last night, except Serena now had a pink felt hat and Ash had a green and blue jacket with an official pokemon league cap on his head.

"Let's go inside!" Thomas said enthusiastically, still panting from the long run. Every one nodded in agreement, and they entered the lab together. The lab was filled with impressive machinery, and standing in the middle of the room was an old man, about 60, he had old gray hair and a kind smile, he was non other than Samuel Oak himself, the Kanto regions top Pokémon researcher. He also had the responsibility of gifting new Pallet Town trainers with a starter Pokémon and a Pokedex.

"Well cutting it a little close aren't we" Prof. Oak said, looking at the trainers with a face of interest, as if he was studying each one of them.

"I apologize, it seems like we all woke up a little late" Serena chuckled; she found it amusing how they all managed to wake up late on such an important day.

Professor Oak smiled warmly. "Well, better late than never I always say." he said "But now it's time for you to receive your starter Pokémon. He led the group over to a wooden table, 3 pokeballs sat on the table.

"As you may already know, the Kanto region starter Pokemon are Charmander, a Fire type. Squirtle, a Water type. And Bulbasaur, a Grass type." he said. "And you should also know that Pokemon are not just pets or tools for battle, they are your friends and loyal companions. They should be treated with the love and respect they deserve."

"We know that professor, go ahead Macy, you choose first." Said Thomas, the other nodded in agreement.

Macy blushed slightly, she also thought to herself how lucky she was to have such kind friends like Thomas, Ash and Serena. She walked over to the polished wooden table."Well I didn't have to think very long to know which one I'm choosing" Macy said confidently. She picked up the pokeball in the middle of the table.

"Charmander! I choose you!" A white light was released from the pokeball and an orange salamander Pokémon that walked on two legs appeared on the table, the tip of its tail had a burning flame.

"Char charr" the Pokémon exclaimed as it stretched out its arms and looked around the room.

"Aw it's so cute" Serena squealed with delight.

Macy looked at the Charmander and smiled. "Hello Charmander, my name is Macy and I love fire-type Pokémon" She said kindly, a warm smile spread across her face. " I was wondering, would you like to go with me on my journey?" she asked

"Char charr!" the Pokémon said while nodding. It leapt into Macy arms.

"Oh I know! Why don't I nickname you Lizzy? Macy asked the little Pokémon, the Charmander nodded in approval, it liked its new name.

"Ok Serena, why don't you go next." Ash said, motioning for her to walk over to the table.

"Oh, ok." She said nervously, she knew that the Pokémon she choose today will be her lifelong partner; she didn't want to make the wrong decision.

She picked up the pokeball of the left side of the table

She gulped. "Well here it goes. Squirtle, I choose you!" Serena said as she pressed the button on the middle of the pokeball. A small white light hit the table, and a small, light blue turtle Pokémon with a curled tail appeared. It seemed a bit smaller than other Squirtle, but it had a heart-shaped marking on it shell. Which Serena found interesting.

"Squirtle squir" the little turtle Pokémon said as it looked around the room, soon fixating its eyes on its new trainer.

"Hello Squirtle" Serena said happily "Would you like to travel with me?"

The little Pokemon didn't say anything, instead it danced around the table and jumped up into Serena's arms and gave her a huge smile.

Serena almost died of cuteness overload. "Yay! I just know we are going to get along great Squirtle" she exclaimed excitedly, cuddling her new partner.

"Squirtle!" the Pokémon said happily as it nodded in agreement.

"Well, do you mind if I go next Ash?" Thomas asked while looking to his friend

"Sure buddy, go ahead" Ash said, smiling.

"Awesome" Thomas said. He approached the table. "Well good thing you guys left the Pokémon that I wanted" he said as he picked up the remaining pokeball. "Bulbasaur come out and say he-AHHHH". When he pressed the button, instead of a Bulbasaur popping out, there was a flash of white light and colorful confetti and toy Ekans flew everywhere from inside the pokeball, startling Thomas so bad he fell backwards.

Inside the pokeball was a little note, it said "Ha-ha I see you tried to choose Bulbasaur eh? Well looks like I got it first! Later loser! – Gary Oak".

"Why that little-"Thomas said as he stood up and was about to lose his temper, but Ash put his hand on Thomas's shoulder trying to calm him down. "It's ok man, what else can you expect from Gary" he said calmly. Thomas began to cool down, but Macy however, was boiling inside.

_How he dare play such a cruel joke on Thomas, I swear when I get my hands on Gary I'm going to-_

"Uh, Macy, are you ok?" Thomas asked, concerned.

"Huh?" she replied. She looked down and realized her fists were balled up. Her face turned a light shade of red. "Uh yea I'm fine" She chuckled nervously. Ash and Thomas shrugged, oblivious to the true nature of Macy's upset.

"Uh, Professor Oak? Do you happen to have two more Pokémon lying around that we could take?" Ash asked worryingly.

"Well I do have two more Pokémon, but I must warn you they are a little different." Oak said as he took two pokeballs off of a nearby shelf. The pokeballs had a fine layer of dust on them.

"We don't care, let us see them" Thomas said energetically, clearly excited to meet his new partner.

Professor Oak held one of the pokeballs in each hand, Thomas picked up the right one and Ash picked up the left one.

"Well, he goes nothing" Thomas said to Ash, they both grinned at each other and simultaneously threw the pokeballs and said "Pokémon! I choose you!"

The Pokémon that materialized in front of Ash was a small yellow rodent Pokémon, it had long pointed ears with black tips and a lightning bolt-shaped tail. In front of Thomas a small brown Pokémon wearing what appeared to be a skull on its head looked up at him, it held what appeared to be a small bone in its hand.

The Pokémon were Pikachu and Cubone.


	2. Chapter 2: The Journey Begins

**_Authors Note_  
Well everyone, here is chapter two, in this chapter is focuses more on Macy and Thomas as they split up from Ash and Serena, And Chaos ensues. The reason why this Chapter focuses on Macy and Thomas is because everyone knows about Ash since he has been and Pokemon Character since the 1990's and I would like to give my characters some development and show their personalities a bit better. Anywho, lets get onto Chapter 2!**

**-Disclaimer, I don't own Pokemon or any of its characters, all rights belong to Nintendo-**

Chapter 2

The journey begins

Thomas knelt down to look the little Cubone in the face, the little Pokémon started shaking out of fear, the skull it wore on its head made a faint rattling sound.

"Oh, no don't be scared little guy." Thomas said kindly. He soon got an idea, he picked up the little Pokémon and placed it on top of his head, and he then began just walking around the room. The others sweat-dropped as they watched Thomas parade around with a Cubone on his head, but to their surprise, the Little Pokémon seemed to be enjoying it! Thomas could hear Cubone's skull helmet cease rattling, so he picked it up off of his head and held it in front of him. The little brown Pokémon no longer shook in fear, instead it smiled at him gleefully.

"So then little buddy, do you want to accompany me on my journey?" Thomas asked the small Pokémon.

"Cubone cu!" The little Pokémon exclaimed. It then jumped out of Thomas's hands and back onto his head; it seemed to like it up there.

"Wow, that really was something there Thomas." Professor Oak said, completely dumbstruck "The way you managed to break Cubone out of its shyness and make it trust you so quickly was absolutely phenomenal!"

"Oh, well it was nothing, I just thought that maybe if Cubone and I had a little bit of fun, it would stop being scared." Thomas said, scratching his cheek

"You've got to be kidding." Serena said with a look of disbelief on her face. "Thomas that was fantastic, Macy don't you agree?" Serena turned to Macy, whose face started to warm up.

"Huh? Oh right it was sure something." Macy said, lost in thought. Serena immediately caught on, and began teasing Macy.

"So…anything on your mind Macy." Serena said slyly, noticing her slight blushing.

"NO, Nothing at all." Macy said, panicking. Everyone laughed, unfortunately, Ash and Thomas didn't understand the true cause of Macy's outburst.

"Well, I guess it's my turn to gain Pikachu's trust." Ash said as he turned to the small electric rodent. He reached out to touch the small Pokémon, failed to notice the electricity build up in its cheeks.

Serena noticed the sparks that began to fly from Pikachu's cheeks. "Wait Ash don't!" she shouted, but it was too late, Pikachu launched a powerful Thundershock attack that engulfed Ash in electricity. The powerful shock made Ash crumple to the ground.

"Oh no! Ash are you ok?" Serena asked, signs of concern were all over her face.

"Wow that was a powerful Thundershock, and I'm fine." Ash said weakly. He stood back up and continued to try to gain Pikachu's trust.

"I'm sorry I tried to touch you without asking first" Ash said, apologizing to the small rodent. Pikachu was surprised, he was expecting Ash to get angry and yell at it or hit it; this boy might be different than other humans it encountered in the past.

"So what do you say Pikachu? Want to be my partner?" Ash asked the small rodent "If anything happens that you don't like, you can leave, no questions asked."Pikachu was awfully surprised at this; it had never met such a kind person.

"Pikapi" Pikachu said, nodding in agreement.

"All righty then, why don't you get into your pokeball and I will take you home to introduce you to my mom before we leave." Ash said. Pikachu immediately didn't like that idea, and let loose a small jolt of electricity that knocked the pokeball out of Ash's hand.

"Oh, do you not like pokeballs? Well then you can stay out here and walk alongside me" Ash said. Once again, Pikachu was shocked by the utter kindness of Ash.

"Are you sure thats a good idea Ash? After all it doesn't seem safe to have Pikachu out after it just shocked you" Professor Oak said, doubtful that Ash's idea was the right one.

"Absolutely, if Pikachu doesn't want to go inside it's pokeball then it doesn't have to." Ash replied.

"Well then, since you all have gained the trust of your partner Pokémon, why don't you take these." Prof Oak said as he handed the four new trainers their pokedexs.

"A Pokedex will automatically record data of any Pokémon you see or capture, it will also provide helpful tips for your journey". The four new trainers gladly accepted their pokedexs, they waved goodbye as they left the Lab and made their way back to their homes to say goodbye to their parents before they leave.

* * *

"Route 1, the place where all beginning trainers from Pallet town take their first steps as Pokémon trainers." Thomas recited to Macy; they were both waiting for Ash and Serena, who were still saying goodbye to their mothers.

"Hey hope we didn't keep you waiting too long" Ash said as he ran over to them, Serena was following just a few feet behind.

"Nope, we only have been here for a few minutes." Macy said, she just then remembered the question she and Serena wanted to ask them. "Hey you guys, don't you think it would be fun to all travel together? You know, to support each other along the way".

Ash's face lit up."That is a great idea! The more the merrier! Don't you agree Pikachu?" Ash said to the little pokemon, Pikachu nodded in agreement. Ash was absolutely ecstatic about traveling the region and meeting all kinds of new Pokemon "So, let's head straight through the forest and to Viridian city, we should take the main road, since it's the fastest"

"Actually Ash" Thomas Butted in. "I had my own little route mapped out for traveling through the forest, I should still exit at Viridian city though, why don't we split up for now and I will meet you guys in Viridian city?"

"Uh ok, I guess we will See you there!" Ash said as he began to go a separate way from Thomas. "Macy, Serena let's get a move on."

"Ok" Serena said as she ran over to Ash, but turned around to see Macy running over to Thomas instead.

"I'll travel with Thomas and we will meet you guys in Viridian city ok?" Macy shouted as she stopped running and turned back to face them.

Serena giggled to herself, "Ok, see you guys there" She shouted back, She was happy that Macy and Thomas would be able to spend some time alone together, and so could her and Ash. Serena and Ash began their journey down the main road through the forest, while Macy and Thomas took the more obscure path.

* * *

They had been walking for about 2 hours, the forest in route 1 was pretty large, and sometime it took about half a day to travel through to Viridian city. Cubone rode on top of Thomas's head as a blue, sparkling pond came into view.

"Ah, well this looks like a perfect place to rest for now, don't you think so Macy?" Thomas turned to see Macy literally collapsed on the ground from exhaustion.

"Ugh, did we really have to take the long way, I'm so thirsty and I forgot to bring water" Macy groaned, she never liked hikes.

"Don't worry, I have some empty water bottles in my backpack, I will go down to the pond and fill them up for us" Thomas replied kindly.

"Thanks, that so kind of you" Macy said relieved that she didn't have to walk anymore. "I will just wait here." Macy laid down in the grass, he long red hair covered her face.

"Ok, I will be right back." he replied.

Thomas made his way over to the pond when something caught his eye, a small dark blue Pokémon was tangled in some of the plants that grow along the side of the river. Thomas took out his pokedex to scan the small Pokémon.

"Poliwag, the tadpole Pokémon" The pokedex said in a robotic, monotone voice. "Its slick black skin is thin and damp. A part of its internal organs can be seen through the skin as a spiral pattern"

"A Poliwag huh? It seems to be in a little bit of trouble." Thomas said, concerned. He began to walk over to the small Pokémon. The Tadpole Pokémon looked up at Thomas with a curious face; Thomas smiled kindly as he bent down to untangle Poliwag's tail from the weeds. Cubone jumped down from Thomas's head and began talking with the Poliwag to keep its mind off of its trapped tail.

"Annnnddddd, done!" Thomas said as all the weeds that ensnared Poliwag's tail fell off.

"Poli poli!" The little Pokémon exclaimed in delight

"Glad I could help." Thomas said, and he then knelt down and began filling the water bottles from the pond for Macy and Himself. Cubone continued to talk with Poliwag until its trainer had finished with the water.

"Alright, all done, come on Cubone lets go" Thomas said. The Ground type Pokémon then leaped onto Thomas's shoulder and back onto his head. "Be careful around those plants Poliwag, try not to get tangled again!" Thomas said as he waved goodbye to the little Tadpole Pokémon.

* * *

After a short lunch and water break, Macy and Thomas decide to start moving again so they can meet Ash and Serena at Viridian City.

"Hey, why don't we try to get back onto the main road, after all we don't want to keep Serena and Ash waiting for very long" Macy said. Thomas Nodded in agreement and they headed towards the mainroad.

It started to rain as a storm was getting ready to settle in.

"Oh fantastic" Macy said sarcastically, the water from the rain made her hair gradually turn a darker shade of red, it reminded Thomas of a dying flame. "At least the main road is up here, then its only a half and hour walk to Viridian city" she continued.

"Hey look, theres the main road right there" Thomas said pointing towards a clearly visible dirt road. But something wasn't right. Thomas looked around, and then he saw it. Ash was riding a bicycle in the rain with Serena standing on the pegs in the back, with a badly battered Pikachu in the front basket.

After they zoomed by on the bike, Macy and Thomas rushed out onto the road.

"Hey since when did Ash get a bike? I'm fairly certain he didn't bring it with him" Macy said.

"Yea I was wondering that to" Thomas replied, suddenly, he heard lots of angry squawking. So he turned around to see a large flock a Spearow heading straight for them.

"MACY, DUCK!" Thomas tackled Macy to the ground as the angry Spearow flew just overhead.

"That was close" Macy said, she realized that Thomas had just possibly saved her life, since Spearow aren't usually very merciful Pokémon. The idea of it made her blush slightly.

"Well it could have been a lot worse" Thomas said as he wiped the sweat from his forehead, "After all, there could have been a Fearow with them"

He just had to open his big mouth.

As if on cue, a large, brown bird Pokémon with a large, sharp, red beak and beady eyes landed right in front of them. The Pokémon glared out them then let out a menacing shriek.

"FEAROOOOW" the giant bird Pokémon screeched. It approached Macy and Thomas, Giving them both threatening looks. Cubone hopped down from Thomas's head and held its little bone like a club; it was ready to take on the Fearow to protect its new trainer.

"Ok then, looks like the only way to drive Fearow away is to battle it" Thomas gulped, he knew his inexperienced Cubone couldn't defeat a fully evolved Pokémon like Fearow. They couldn't count on Macy's Charmander, Lizzy, to help either, with the rain it was to big of a risk for Macy to send out the little fire Pokémon.

"Ok Cubone, use Bone Club!" Thomas Commanded. No sooner did Thomas give the Command Cubone obeyed. The little Pokémon ran up to Fearow, jumped into the air, and smashed its club into Fearows head. The giant bird Pokémon took two steps back, shook its head, and then proceeded to smack Cubone with its giant wings, sending the little ground-type flying into a tree.

"Cubone no!" Thomas ran over to protect Cubone from anymore of Fearows attacks. Thomas held Cubone close to his chest and left his back exposed to the Fearow, ready to take the hits for Cubone. Instead, what Thomas heard was much worse, he heard Macy scream while the Fearow screeched violently.

Macy was frozen in fear as the Giant bird Pokémon closed in, it raised its beak high in the air, ready to strike. But Macy watched as Fearow was tackled to the ground by Thomas and Cubone, she couldn't believe that Thomas and Cubone just tackled a Pokémon as dangerous as Fearow to protect her.

"FEAROWWWWWW." The large Pokémon shrieked once again as it threw Thomas And Cubone 10 feet into a large tree.

"Owwwww" Thomas groaned as he felt the pain surge up and down his back, he looked over to Cubone, who was knocked unconscious from the impact. The Fearow approached them, and raised its beak high in the air, ready to finish it. Macy covered her eyes and Thomas shut his, preparing for the worst.

Suddenly, the Fearow was blasted back with two mighty streams of water.

"Huh?" Thomas said, he looked over to the bushes, where two light blue bipedal Pokémon appeared, he took out his pokedex to scan them.

"Poliwhirl, The Tadpole Pokémon, It can live in or out of water. When out of water, it constantly sweats to keep its body slimy, and is the evolved form of Poliwag."

"Evolved form of Poliwag, does that mean?" To confirm his speculation, the little Poliwag that Thomas helped earlier emerged from the bushes and stood in between the two Poliwhirl, who were clearly its friends.

"Thank you Poliwag and Poliwhirl, for saving me and my Cubone" Thomas said weakly, as his back still hurts from hitting the tree.

The Fearow attempted to stand back up, but the Poliwhirl just knocked it back down again with their water gun attacks. The Fearow eventually gave up and flew away.

Macy ran over to help Thomas up, but Thomas was more concerned with his Cubone, he ran over to his battered Pokémon, it was unconscious and it's breathing was very shallow. That is when the dreadfulness of their situation began to sink in as Thomas realized that if he doesn't get Cubone to a pokemon center quickly, he could lose his new friend forever.


	3. Chapter 3: Pokemon Emergancy

Chapter 3

Pokémon Emergency

Ash really didn't know what to make of the situation. It was his first day as a Pokémon trainer, and he looks down to see his battered Pikachu in his arms, barely clinging onto life. He was running alongside his lifelong friend, Serena, both of them looked almost as battered as Pikachu, he could only hope Thomas and Macy were waiting for them in Viridian city to help.

"Ash look" Serena shouted, pointing towards to building tops that where peaking over the trees, it was Viridian city.

"Yes! There should be a Pokémon center there, we have to hurry" Ash replied hastily, knowing they had to be quick.

Standing at the gates to the city was a blue haired woman in a police uniform, her nametag read Officer Jenny.

"Hold it right there you two" The police women had said in a stern voice, Ash and Serena both stopped right in front of her.

"Please Miss" Ash begged "We need to get to a Pokémon center, our Pokémon need help". Ash knew that Serena's Squirtle took heavy damage as well trying to fight off the flock of Spearow that attack them earlier.

"There have been reports of Pokémon thieves running about in the city, how do I know you two didn't steal those Pokémon?" She replied

"Please, these are our Pokémon and they need to get to the Pokémon center right away" Ash continued to beg, desperate to help his friend that struggled to hang on in his arms.

"Well, just show me your Pokémon trainers license's and we can clear this whole thing up" The officer replied, still looking at them both suspiciously.

"Pokémon trainer's license?" Ash replied, puzzled

"Oh, you mean this?" Serena said, pulling out her Pokedex, Ash did the same.

"Serena Jewels" Serena's pokedex said in a robotic voice, "Licensed Pokémon trainer from Pallet Town"

"Ash Ketchum" Ash's pokedex began to say, in the same robotic, monotone voice, "Licensed Pokémon trainer from Pallet Town"

"Ok, well that's good enough for me, there's a Pokémon center about half a mile down this road" Officer Jenny said, pointing down the road. "In fact, I will do you one better, I will take you there myself"

* * *

Officer Jenny's motorcycle zoomed down the road, with Ash, Serena and Pikachu riding in the side car, the little electric mouse's breathing became almost non-existent. The Pokémon center came into sight, but Officer Jenny showed no sign of slowing down.

"Uh miss, don't you think you should slow down" Serena asked worryingly as she looked up to the Officer.

"Don't worry I know what I'm doing" she replied nonchalantly, not taking her eyes off the road in front of her.

Ash and Serena both screamed as the motorcycle drove up the Pokémon center steps and was about to crash into the doors, The two braced for a painful impact, but luckily the doors opened automatically.

The motorcycle skidded to a halt right in front of the main desk.

"Oh my" The pink haired nurse who was standing behind the main desk. She wore a standard white nurses uniform with the red plus on the hat. "Do you mind being more careful Officer Jenny?"

"Nurse Joy, there is no time to explain, we have a Pokémon Emergency!" She replied

The nurse saw the battered Pikachu being cradled in Ash's hands and immediately understood the situation.

"Chansey, get a stretcher now!" The nurse shouted. A fat pink Pokémon about 4ft tall waddled as fast as it could with its stubby legs, pushing a hospital stretcher.

Ash placed Pikachu on the stretcher and Serena placed Squirtle's pokeball on it as well.

"Don't worry, your Pokémon will be fine now" Nurse Joy said to Ash. She then took the stretcher from Chansey and began to push into the room labeled "Intensive care", It would be the longest hour of Ash's life.

* * *

About 1 hour later, Ash was still sitting in the lobby of the Pokémon center, worrying about his Pokémon. Serena was at the front desk of the pokemon center, getting the room keys from nurse joy. After she had finished she walked over and sat next to Ash, after about 10 minutes of painful silence. She decided it would be the best to try to get some words out of him.

"Don't worry Ash, we got them to the Pokémon center, everything will be fine" Serena said, but she was still worrying to. She thought about her Squirtle and how badly it had been hurt trying to fight off the flock of Spearow, she also thought about their friends, who were also caught in the storm and didn't appear to be anywhere in the Pokecenter.

"There you two are!" An angry female voice shouted through the Pokémon center lobby. Serena immediately remembered the voice, and knew they were about to get scolded/

A girl with bright red hair similar to Macy's marched towards them angrily; she was holding what appeared to be a charbroiled bicycle. The girl was the same one Ash and Serena had bumped into while trying to escape the Spearow flock. They ended up stealing her bike.

"Whoa what happened to your bike?" Ash asked, forgetting that they had borrowed it to get away from the Spearow.

"You two happened to my bike!" She shouted angrily, gritting her teeth. "And I'm not going to let you two out of my sight until you pay for it!" she continued to shout. Her angry voice echoed trough the empty pokemon center lobby.

Serena didn't like the girls tone. "Hey! Our Pokémon are laying in there badly injured, and you're here yelling at us about some lousy bike!" Serena snapped, tired of this girl yelling at Ash.

"Well maybe if you two were better Pokémon trainers then maybe that wouldn't have happened" The red head rebutted, still shouting.

Serena was boiling inside, she was tired of this girls constant shouting, she was about to yell something back until Ash stepped in between them.

"Now, stop fighting, we aren't going to get anywhere by shouting" Ash said calmly, he then turned to the Red haired girl, whose face was still red with anger.

"My name is Ash Ketchum and this is Serena Jewels, we probably got off on the wrong foot" He said, still trying to calm both sides down

"I don't care what your names are! I just want a new bike" The red head snapped as she stomped her foot on the ground.

"Well maybe if you tell us your name and give us your number we can call you when we have the money to replace your bike" Ash said, trying to reach a compromise.

"Fine, my names Misty, but I'm still not letting you two out of my sight until you repay my bike" she replied, still shouting.

Ash was about to say something when he heard the Pokémon center doors open. The three of them turned to the entrance to see Macy and Thomas; both soaked head to toe, carrying a battered Cubone. Serena and Ash both ran over to them, Misty still stood in the same spot, not knowing how to react to the current situation. "But...my bike." she muttered.

* * *

It was about 10pm at the Pokémon center, Thomas had gotten Cubone into intensive care with Pikachu and Squirtle and shared their story with Ash and Serena. They were just given the Ok from Nurse Joy that their Pokémon should be fine after a good night's rest.

Macy, Serena and Misty decided to share a room at the Pokémon center when Thomas and Ash slept in the one adjacent to them, each room at two sets of bunk beds.

"So" Misty said as she got ready to hop into her bed. After the past few hours of hanging out with them in the Pokémon center, she decided that these kids weren't as bad as she thought. They cared a lot for each other and their pokemon.

"How long have you all known each other" She asked.

"Well, me and Thomas moved to Pallet Town from Cinnabar Island about 5 years ago"Macy said, "Since both of our families are really close we both decided to move together, that's when we met Ash"

"Oh ok" Misty said "so does that make you and Thomas boyfriend and girlfriend?" Misty asked, wondering.

"Oh no, nothing like that" Macy said, blushing slightly.

Misty got a sly look on her face, "Ah, ok, well what about you Serena?" she turned to Serena to ask her the question.

"Oh well I moved to Pallet Town from the Faraway Kalos region about three years ago" Serena began to recall, "I met Thomas, Macy and Ash at the Pokémon summer camp, I hurt my leg during a scavenger hunt and Ash helped me out of the forest and back to the camp sight"

"Oh, well that was awfully nice of him" Misty said slyly, taking notice of the Blush on Serena's face.

Inturupting their conversation, a loud announcement was made throughout the city. "There has been sighting of a hot air balloon flying high above the city, this balloon is believed to belong to a group of Pokémon thieves, please proceed with caution" The voice had said, and if, as by cue, there was a loud explosion from the Pokémon center lobby.

The girls exited their room, followed by the boys who also heard the explosion. They were shocked to see that a huge gaping hole in the ceiling. In the middle of the lobby stood two people and a Meowth, who took notice of the group of children. The two adults wore white uniforms with a big red R in the front along with black boots and gloves.

"What's going on here" Nurse Joy, who was still standing behind the front desk, shouted.

The two adults, a man with blue hair, and a women with outrageously long dark red hair, smiled sinisterly as they began to recite what sounded like bad poetry.

"Prepare for trouble!"

"Make it double!"

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To untie all people within our nation!"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"Jessie!"

"James!"

"Team rocket blast off at the speed of light"

"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"

"Meowth, that's right!

The group sweatdropped at what could have possibly been the worst motto ever.

"What do you three want" Thomas shouted angrily, he was more upset that he was woken up from his sleep then he was that these guys just vandalized the Pokémon center.

"Why to steal Pokémon of course" The blue haired man, named James, replied cockily.

"And don't you worry, we are not interested in your Cubone or you friends pathetic Pikachu" The red haired women, named Jessie, added. "We are only after strong Pokémon, like that Charmander over there". She pointed to Macy's Charmander, Lizzy, who was outside its pokeball, standing in front of Macy.

Macy took a step back, with a shocked look on her face. She snapped out of it and shouted "There's no way I'm letting you crooks take Lizzy"

"Then I guess we are going to have to do this the hard way then" Jessie said. "Ekans go, get that Charmander"

"Koffing you to!" James said.

Both of them threw their pokeballs and a purple snake with yellow rings around its body appeared, next to it a circular purple Pokémon covered with craters appeared, it seemed to have a permanently goofy smile.

"If it's a battle you want, it's a battle you will get, come on everyone, let's get em!" Macy shouted, determined to protect Lizzy.

The group nodded, and called out their Pokémon.

"Squirtle I choose you!" Serena shouted as the blue little turtle appeared in front of her.

"Misty calls…Staryu!" Misty shouted as she threw her pokeball, an orange, starfish looking Pokémon with a pink jewel in the center of it appeared.

Macy's Charmander got into a battle stance and Thomas's Cubone jumped down from on top of his head. Ash's Pikachu, despite still being injured, was ready to fight off these thieves also

"Are you sure you want to fight buddy?" Ash looked down to his Pikachu, concerned

"PikaPi' Pikachu replied confidently, sparks flying from its cheeks.

"Ok then! 5 versus 2, this outta be an easy one" Ash said.

"Don't be so sure, little boy" James said, "Koffing use smog!" The purpled Pokémon started to release a thick, black cloud of smoke from the craters on its body. The group's Pokémon were blinded.

"Quickly Ekans, while they can't see, spray them with poison sting!" Jessie commanded. The snake Pokémon leaped into the air over then cloud of smoke, opened its mouth and sprayed glowing purple needles down on the group, each one of their Pokémon being hit by a barrage of poisonous needles.

As the smoke cleared, the entire grouped gasped in shock, all of their Pokémon had taken heavy damage from Ekans's attack.

"Two can play at that game" Misty said, gritting her teeth, "Staryu use water gun on Ekans!"

"You to Squirtle!" Serena said. Both of the Pokémon obeyed their trainers and sprayed the snake Pokémon with high powered streams of water. But despite the attack, Ekans seemed almost unscathed.

"Wait, I got an idea!" Macy said, she looked over to Thomas, "I need you to have Cubone hit Koffing in the center of its body with an attack."

Thomas didn't know what Macy was planning, but it sounded good to him, "Cubone! Use Bone Club on Koffing!" Thomas shouted, the little Pokémon nodded and charged at the enemies Koffing.

"Not so fast" Jessie said. " Ekans intercept Cubone with Tackle attack". The purple snake lunged at Cubone, but before the attack could connect, it was tackled to the ground by Pikachu, Squirtle and Staryu.

When Cubone reached Koffing, it jumped up and hit Koffing square in the center, knocking it back unto Jessie and James.

When the purple Pokémon landed, it emitted a cloud of brown gas. Macy smirked, "That gas is flammable, Lizzy use your ember attack!"

The fire Pokémon let lose a barrage of small fire balls from its mouth, when it connected with the gas, there was an explosion and the group of thieves was sent flying out through the hole in the roof.

The whole grouped high fived as they had just successfully defended the Pokémon center and protected their Pokémon from Team Rocket.

* * *

It was Early next morning, the whole group sat at a table in the Pokémon center cafeteria eating breakfast; Thomas was on his third bowl of cereal.

"So, are any of you planning on taking the Pokémon league challenge?" Misty asked as she finished her piece of toast. The Pokémon league challenge was where trainers challenged Pokémon gym leaders all across the region, hoping to win the Gyms badge, after a trainer has won eight badges they can compete in the Pokémon league tournament, which was held annually at the indigo plateau.

Ash and Thomas both raised their hands, answering yes to Misty's question.

"Speaking of the Pokémon league, shouldn't you two get registered?" Serena said, reminding them.

Thomas and Ash both almost chocked on their breakfast. "Oh right! I almost forgot!" Ash said, both of them got up to go register, Thomas tried to take his cereal bowl with him.

"Hold on, slow down, there's no deadline, you can sign up for the league anytime you want" Misty said.

"Oh wonderful, now I can finish my breakfast" Thomas said as he sat down to continue his 3rd bowl of cereal.

"Yay, if you ever finish that is" Macy sighed, the whole group laughed as Thomas didn't even look up from his bowl of cereal.


	4. Chapter 4: Into Viridian Forest

** Authors Note**

**As it was made obvious last chapter, Both Ash and Thomas plan of Entering the Pokemon League, but as for Serena and Macy, their goals will be given in chapter 6, for those of you who are wondering, i still havnt decided if im going to have Brock travel with them or not, the group already is a little to large for my liking, but we will just have to see what i come up with.**

* * *

Chapter 4

Into Viridian Forest

Thomas wondered why Misty was following them around; he heard it had something to do with Serena and Ash destroying her bike. But that's no reason to follow them into Viridian forest, especially since they have already been walking for 2 hours. He sure did appreciate her help fighting off Team Rocket in Viridian city, but she wasn't the most upbeat person ever. He looked up at Cubone, who was in its usual spot on top of Thomas's head, it obviously was a little annoyed as well.

"Let stop and take a rest, my feet hurt" Misty groaned. Thomas thought this was a wonderful opportunity to make a run for it and ditch her, he even suggested the idea to his friends about an hour before, Macy and Serena were all for it, but Ash thought it wouldn't be a very nice thing to do after she helped them fight off Team Rocket.

"Fine, it will be dark soon anyways" Serena said with a deadpan expression, obviously annoyed by Misty's whining.

"I will go get some water and firewood" Thomas offered politely, trying to ease group tension a little bit.

"Grrr" a mysterious grumble echoed throughout the group.

"What was that?" Ash asked, the group looked around, but couldn't find the source of the sound.

That's when the group realized, it was Thomas's stomach.

"Hehe, maybe I will pick some berries on the way back" Thomas said, rubbing his back embarrassingly.

"Just be careful, there are Beedrill nests everywhere in this forest" Macy warned. When she said that Misty practically jumped, she hated bugs, but she didn't want everyone else to know that.

"Ok don't worry, I will only be a short while" Thomas said as he wandered off into the forest.

* * *

But of course, Thomas's stomach got the better of him. As he was climbing a tree to pick the apples off of it, a Beedrill flew out of a nearby tree and try to attack him.

"Whoaaaaaaaaaaa" Thomas screamed as the surprise made him fall out of the tree. He got back up immediately, and looked around to see the Beedrill getting ready to strike again, he didn't want to make Cubone fight the Beedrill, so he decided to turn and run instead, man, he just wanted an apple.

"Hey look, there's a pond up ahead!" Thomas said between breaths, Cubone was still on top of Thomas's head, using its club to swipe at the Beedrill to keep it from getting to close. The pond came into jumping distance, Thomas decided to make a jump into the pond, and hopefully the Beedrill will give up on the chase.

They hit the surface of the pond with a loud splash, Thomas stayed underwater for a few seconds in hopes that the Beedrill will fly away. Unable to hold his breath anymore, he surfaced. Cubone was still on top of his head; man that little Pokémon had a grip.

Unfortunately, this Beedrill was a patient one; it had waiting for them to resurface and was preparing to strike again with its Twineedle attack. But suddenly, the Beedrill was shot out of the sky and into the water by what seemed to be a Water Gun attack. Thomas turned to the source of the attack and couldn't believe it, it was the same little Poliwag that saved him from the Fearow yesterday.

Thomas swam to land and the little Tadpole Pokémon followed, Thomas still couldn't believe that the little Pokémon followed him all this way from route one.

"Poli Poli" The little Pokémon exclaimed happily. It seemed to be relieved that Thomas and Cubone were ok.

"Thanks Poliwag, that was the second time you helped me out of a jam" Thomas said, he smiled at the little Pokémon. To his surprise, the Poliwag walked up to him and started nudging its nose against the 5 empty pokeballs on his belt.

"Oh" Thomas said as he picked an empty pokeball off of his belt "would you like you travel with me Poliwag?" he asked the little Pokémon.

"Poli Poli" The Poliwag nodded excitedly.

"Ok then, Pokeball go!" Thomas said as he threw the Pokeball at Poliwag, when the ball came into contact with Poliwag, it absorbed the small creature inside of it and landed on the ground. The pokeball shook about 5 times until giving off a little "ding" sound, signifying that the capture was a success.

"Alright, my first Pokémon capture" Thomas said happily. Cubone smiled as well, happy that it has a new friend.

* * *

Thomas returned to the campsite with some small logs for firewood and some water bottles that he filled up at the pond. He was welcomed back with Misty's screaming.

"Get that disgusting bug away from me!" Misty yelled, the look of terror on her face. She appeared to be yelling at a small green caterpillar like Pokémon.

"Oh come on Misty, Caterpie isn't going to hurt you" Ash said, referring to the little bug Pokémon. "In fact, I'm going to catch it". He turned his hat backwards on top of his head and threw an empty pokeball at the Caterpie, the little Pokémon was absorbed into the ball as it landed on the ground, it shook a few times and gave off its signature "ding".

"Yes, I caught a Caterpie" Ash shouted triumphantly. "Huh? Oh hi Thomas, how long have you been back?" he asked.

"Long enough to see Misty's freak out and you capture that Caterpie" He replied, Cubone was still on top of Thomas's head covering its ears, unaware that Misty had finally stop screaming.

"It wasn't freak out I just don't like bug Pokémon" Misty pouted, clearly embarrassed.

"Suuuuuuuure it wasn't" Macy said, rolling her eyes.

"Anyways, let's get the fire going and have dinner" Serena suggested. Thomas agreed immediately as his stomach grumbled at the same time.

"Hold it, before we do anything, Misty has to get over her fear of Caterpie" Ash said as he held out Caterpie's Pokeball

"What?! You've got to be insane" Misty said as she crossed her arms.

"No, I'm perfectly sane" Ash replied. "If you are going to be traveling with us I can't have you screaming every time I send out Caterpie"

"Fine, just send it out" Misty sighed, she just wanted to sit down and have dinner.

After about 15 minutes of screaming, Misty finally built up the courage to pet Caterpie, the little green Pokémon cooed as it liked being pet.

"See Misty, Caterpie isn't going to hurt you" Ash said smugly. "Now we can sit down and eat"

"Finally!" Thomas said as he threw his arms into the air.

* * *

It was early next morning, the group was busy cleaning up camp. As Ash was rolling up his sleeping bag, he heard something peck at the ground behind him. He turned around to see a brown bird Pokémon, it had red plumage on the top of its head.

Serena took notice of the bird Pokémon as well, and she took out her pokedex to scan it.

"Pigeotto, the Bird Pokémon, Very protective of its sprawling territorial area, this Pokémon will fiercely peck at any intruder" The pokedex recited in its usual robotic voice.

"A Pigeotto, cool, I'm going to catch it" Ash said confidently, he turned his hat backwards on his head.

"Remember Ash, use Pikachu, its electric type attacks will do very well against a flying Pokémon like Pigeotto" Thomas helpfully reminded him.

"Of course, no way I would use Caterpie to fight a Bird Pokémon" Ash said, "Pikachu, let's go!"

"PikaPi" Pikachu said enthusiastically, it jumped I'm front of Ash and took a battle stance.

"Pidgettooooooooooo!" The Pidgeotto shrieked at Pikachu, trying to intimidate it into backing down.

"Pikachu use Thundershock!" Ash commanded.

Pikachu let loose a blast of electricity, but Pidgeotto dodged by flying high into the air.

"Pikachu keep using Thundershock to try and hit it" Ash shouted.

After about 3 failed attempts to hit Pidgeotto, one of the attacks managed to connect.

"Pidgeo!" The bird Pokémon exclaimed in pain as it began to fall out of the sky.

"Pokeball go!" Ash yelled as he through the Pokeball at Pidgeotto, luckily it managed to connect with Pidgeotto before it hit the ground. The pokeball landed on the ground and shook violently, Pidgeotto was putting up much more of a fight then Caterpie did, but the pokeball eventually stopped shaking and let out a "Ding".

"Alright! I caught a Pidgeotto!" Ash shouted happily, he raised Pidgeotto's pokeball into the air.

"Good for you Ash" Serena said ecstatically, congratulating him.

"Make sure to leave some Pokémon for us Ash" Macy added, jokingly.

The happy feeling throughout the group soon diminished as 3 familiar voices could be heard coming from the bushes.

"We've been lost in this forest for days" A male voice groaned

"All this humidity is bad for my hair" A female voice added

"Will both of you shut up, your making my head hurt" A second male voice said

"Oh no" Macy said "Is it really them?

Her speculation was confirmed when 2 people in white uniforms emerged from the bushes, followed by a Meowth.

Jessie face turned sour when she spotted the group of kids.

"It's you twerps! From the Pokémon center" She shouted, her face turning almost a red as her hair.

Ash didn't want to get into another fight, so he tried to talk their way out of it. "Listen, we don't want to fight, let's all just go our separate ways and hope we never see each other again, okay?" Ash offered.

"No way, not after you embarrassed us at the Pokémon center" James said, he unhooked his pokeball from his belt, Jessie did the same.

"Now we are going to teach you a lesson" Jessie said, "Go Ekans!"

"Koffing, you to" James said

Both of their Pokémon materialized in front of them, both looking angry after having lost before

"Ok then, Ash lets show them how it's done" Thomas said, Cubone hopped of his head and onto the Ground, ready to fight.

"Right, are you ready Pikachu?" Ash said, looking down to his partner.

"Pika Pika" Pikachu said enthusiastically, it jumped in front of its trainer, sparks flying from its cheeks

"Not so fast,Koffing, use sludge attack!" James shouted.

The purple Pokémon shot clumps of black sludge from its mouth, while Cubone and Pikachu tried their best to dodge, both of them ended up getting hit in the face, effectively blinding them.

"What! No!" Ash shouted, he ran over to pick up his blinded Pokémon, Thomas did the same.

"That was really low" Ash said, gritting his teeth

"Don't worry, Cubone isn't my only Pokémon" Thomas said, "Let's go Poliwag!" He tossed the pokeball, the small tadpole Pokémon appeared in front of him, itching to fight.

"Wait, is that?" Macy began to ask, but Thomas nodded to her to assure her that it was the same Poliwag that helped them before.

"Well, seems to me like you could use some help" Serena said, "Come on girls, let back him up".

Misty and Macy both nodded, since Ash couldn't battle with Pikachu, and Pidgeotto was too weak from the capture to fight, he couldn't help Thomas in the battle against Team Rocket.

"Squirtle I choose you!"

"Misty calls….Staryu!"

"Lizzy, come on out!"

The three Pokémon materialized in front of them, all ready to take out Team Rocket once again.

"Serena, Misty you two focus on Ekans, me and Macy will take out the Koffing" Thomas said, the two girls nodded in agreement.

"Alright then, Staryu use Water Gun on Ekans" Misty commanded

"You to Squirtle!" Serena followed.

The High pressured blasts hit the Ekans straight in the face, but instead of not doing anything like last time, the attacks seemed to damage Ekans decently, Serena took this as a sign that her Squirtle must be getting stronger.

"Grr, James do something" Jessie yelled, gritting her teeth

"I'm busy over here!" James yelled back, his Koffing was dodging attacks from Macy's Charmander and Thomas's Poliwag, but it was getting slower and was eventually hit by Lizzy's Ember attack.

"I got an idea, Ekans use dig!" Jessie said, the snake Pokémon disappeared into the ground, James's Koffing followed it into the hole.

"Be careful, they could pop up anywhere" Macy shouted

The group's Pokémon looked around nervously, trying to predict where the attack would be coming from. Suddenly, Ekans and Koffing emerged from the ground right behind them, Ekans sprayed its Poison sting attack and Koffing launched its Sludge attack at the group of Pokémon. Misty's Staryu and Thomas's Poliwag sustained most of the damage, to the point where they couldn't fight anymore.

"Poliwag return!"

"You to Staryu!"

Misty and Thomas recalled their Pokémon into the pokeballs, it was up to Serena and Macy to fight them by themselves. Thomas looked down to Cubone, but it was still trying to wipe the sludge from its face so it could see.

Ash never felt so helpless, his Pikachu was blinded, Pidgeotto was to damage to fight, and Serena and Macy couldn't take on Team Rocket by themselves. He decided that it was their only hope.

"Caterpie, Let's go!" Ash shouted as he called out the little caterpillar Pokémon.

The appearance of the small Pokémon caused Team Rocket to break out into laughter.

"Really? A Caterpie? That's almost insulting" Jessie said while laughing

"Let's squash that bug" James replied, trying not to crack up.

"Is it even worth fighting?" Meowth said to James, literally crying from laughter.

Both Ekans and Koffing charged at Caterpie, The small caterpillar Pokémon closed its eyes and shook in fear. Suddenly, Ash got an idea.

"Caterpie! Use your string shot attack!" Ash shouted.

The little green bug obeyed and sprayed white silk from its mouth at Koffing and Ekans, the silk wrapped itself around Koffing and Ekans, making them immobile.

"Wha-WHAT" Jessie yelled in surprise.

"Beaten by a measly bug, what is this!?" James shouted.

"I have to do everything myself, Fury Swipes!" Meowth said as it charged at Caterpie, its claws extended, only to get caught in its string shot attack and wrapped up as well.

"This is pathetic" Jessie said, grabbing her hair in frustration

"It's time to get our Pokémon and get out of here!" James said, he made a very good point.

They recalled their Pokémon, picked up Meowth and ran off farther into the woods. Thomas told the group later that they ran in the wrong direction and will most likely be lost in the forest for a few weeks.

The group rejoiced at the fact that they just defended their Pokémon from Team Rocket once again.

Ash knelt down next to his little Caterpie, "Wait to go Caterpie, you did amazing" Ash said, congratulating the little Pokémon.

"Burrrr" the little Pokémon exclaimed, he looked up into the sky and shot its string shot attack into the air, it seemed to be using string shot on itself.

"What?" Ash wondered, he had amazed expression, he never saw anything like this before.

"Ash don't you get it?" Thomas said, "Caterpie is evolving!"

Lo and behold, once the silk from Caterpie's attack disappeared, a new Pokémon stood in its place, it was dark green and looked like a cocoon

Ash took out his pokedex to scan his newly evolved Pokémon.

"Metapod, the cocoon Pokémon, Even though it is encased in a sturdy shell, the body inside is tender. It can't withstand a harsh attack. It is the evolved form of Caterpie" The familiar robotic voice said.

"Congratulations Cater- I mean Metapod" Ash said. The cocoon Pokémon had its equivalent of what seemed to be a smile.

The whole group was in high spirits as they once again defeated Team Rocket and caught new Pokémon as well. They continued through Viridian forest, anticipating their arrival in Pewter city, where Thomas's and Ash's first Pokémon Gym challenge awaits.


	5. Chapter 5: The Samurai's Challenge

**-Authors note- I sure do apologize for having to make you guys wait so long for Chapter 5 to come out, after re-reading some of my previous chapters, I realized that i tend to make a lot of simple mistakes and some parts of the story lack detail. So I spent a lot of time on this chapter trying to include more detail and trying new writing styles. Also I have started Proofreading my Chapters (Something i should have done from the start) Which takes quite a while since new ideas i want to put into the chapter pop up in my head as I'm doing it. Anywho there is a question I've been poking at in my mind for the past few days. While i want to Make Brock a constant traveling companion with the group, I've already encountered some scenarios where it is hard to give every character their own little part in the story. So I'm going to put a poll up on my page to see whether or not you guys want Brock as a constant traveling companion, or just an Adult figure that pops up sometimes in the Story to give the group advice. I'm looking forward to your guy's feedback and one other thing is that Story updates are going to be at least 2-3 chapters a week, as I'm going to try to take more time into putting detail into the story. Anywho, I feel like I rambled on a little bit to much there. Enjoy Chapter 5!**

Chapter 5

The Samurai's Challenge

Macy didn't really know what to do in this situation. She separated from the group to gather some firewood for later, Thomas had offered to come with, but she said she would be fine on her own, after all, what could happen? Well, she definitely wasn't expecting to be jumped by some kid who was dressed like a samurai, sword and all.

"Uh, hello" Macy said nervously, sweat beads started to appear on her forehead. She didn't like the fact that there was a 3 foot steel blade being pointed at her face.

"Greetings madam, I am Samurai, do I happen to be addressing a trainer from the town of Pallet" The Samurai boy asked, his face completely serious.

Macy giggled a little bit at the strange way the boy was speaking, but she decided it was worth answering his question. "Yes you are, me and my friends are from Pallet town, and I was just around looking for fire wood" Macy said, trying to disregard the sword that was still 3 inches from her face. She was fairly certain that this kid wasn't going to hurt her.

"Ah, finally my search is over" Samurai said, he sheathed his sword and unhooked 1 of the 4 pokeballs on his belt. "I wish to challenge you to a Pokémon battle".

A competitive twinkle could be seen in her eyes. Macy jumped at the chance to have her first real trainer battle, if you don't count fighting off Team Rocket that is. "Well then, let's do it" Macy said, excitedly. This was going to be her first real trainer battle, and she was determined to win. She took out Lizzy's pokeball and got into a battle stance.

"Very well then, Beedrill I choose you!" Samurai said as he tossed the pokeball, it sailed through the air and released the black and yellow wasp Pokémon with a burst of white light.

"Lizzy, come on out" Macy said as she released the little fire salamander from its pokeball, she was getting fired up for this fight.

"Char char" The little Pokémon exclaimed, it was ready for its first real match. There was a sudden commotion coming from Macy's right side.

"Macy, are you alright? Where did you go?" a concerned voice could be heard from the bushes.

Macy recognized the voice, "Thomas! I'm over here!" she shouted towards the bushes, waving her hands in the air.

The bushes started to shake, and sure enough, the blond boy emerged, with Cubone riding on his head per usual. Thomas was awfully surprise to see Macy about to take part in what seems to be her first Trainer battle.

"Ah, do you also happen to be a Trainer from the town of Pallet as well?" Samurai asked, intrigued at the sudden appearance of what could possibly be a new challenger.

Thomas was puzzled as to why the boy wanted to know, while it's true that he and Macy started their Pokémon journey in Pallet town, they were originally from Cinnabar Island, but he guessed it was good enough for him. Thomas nodded, answering yes to Samurai's question.

"Great, you shall be my next opponent after I win" Samurai said with confidence, he turned back to Macy.

Macy's temperature started to rise, it was obvious Samurai didn't deem her as a worthy opponent, so she decided to teach him otherwise.

"Ok, well enough talk, Lizzy use Ember!" Macy command, trying not to let her building anger get the better of her.

The fire Pokémon leapt into the air and shot several small embers from its mouth, they hit Samurai's Beedrill dead on, the wasp winced in pain as the embers burned its skin.

"Alright Macy and Lizzy! You guys got this in the bag" Thomas cheered, pumping his fists in the air. Cubone danced with delight on top of Thomas's head.

"Don't be so sure, it will take many more hits to put down my Beedrill" Samurai said, "Use Twineedle attack now!" he commanded.

The wasp Pokémon flew quickly at Lizzy, its twin stingers glowing.

"Lizzy, stop Beedrill's attack with Leer and then hit it with an Ember!" Macy yelled, hoping her plan would work.

Lizzy's eyes glowed blue as it looked at Beedrill intimidatingly; it stopped Beedrill in its tracks. Lizzy then let loose several small embers from its mouth that hit the Beedrill square in its chest, knocking it out. Macy decided it must have been a critical hit.

A smile crept along Macy's face as she had just won her first trainer battle, Lizzy was jumping for joy also.

"Yea Macy! You did it!" Thomas cheered; Cubone jumped off his head and went over to congratulate Lizzy on its first successful battle.

"Thanks, it was nothing really" Macy said, embarrassed by all the attention, her cheeks turned a bright shade of red.

"Beedrill, return" Samurai said, disappointingly as he recalled the charred wasp. "You did very well, have a good rest" Samurai spoke to his Beedrill inside the Pokeball. He unsheathed his sword and pointed it in Thomas's face, causing Macy to yelp and Thomas to freeze up, he didn't like pointy objects.

"Now you, shall be my opp-"Samurai couldn't finish his sentence as he was tackled to the ground by Ash. He, Serena and Misty had found them just in time to watch Samurai point his sword in Thomas's face.

"Don't you threaten my friends!" Ash yelled as he sat on top of the boy.

"I wasn't threatening them I was just challenging them to a Pokémon battle!" Samurai said, trying to explain.

Macy and Thomas sweat dropped as they watched the scene in front of them, Samurai struggled to get Ash off of him.

"Well then why don't you battle me huh? I will teach you not to point swords in people's faces" Ash yelled, obviously not happy with the boy.

"Whoa Ash, calm down, he challenged me and I will accept" Thomas said calmly, he walked over to help Ash off of Samurai.

Samurai stood up, dusted himself off, and shot Ash a look of disgust. This made Ash's face turn almost as red as Macy's hair with anger.

"Ash calm down let Thomas handle it" Serena said, she walked over to him and put her hand on his shoulder in effort to calm him down.

"Fine, but I want to battle him next" Ash pouted, folding his arms over his chest. He really wanted to teach this drama class reject a lesson or two.

"Very well, but first I want to see how I do in my first Trainer match" Thomas said, he kneeled down to Cubone, who for once wasn't riding on his head. "Hey buddy, do you mind if I use Poliwag for this battle?" he asked his partner politely. The little brown Pokémon looked a little disappointed, but it nodded its head in approval.

"Ok then, I shall choose this Pokémon, Pinsir let's go!" Samurai shouted as his pokeball released the brown stag beetle Pokémon, it had a large menacing pair of pincers on top of its head.

Thomas, intrigued by the new pokemon that stood in front of him,took out his pokedex to scan the large insect Pokémon.

" Pinsir the Stag Beetle Pokémon, its two long pincer horns are powerful. Once they grip an enemy, they won't release until the foe is torn." The pokedex said in its monotone voice.

"Ok Poliwag, let do it!" Thomas released the little tadpole Pokémon. Poliwag looked up at its opponent, Pinsir. But instead of backing down at the sight of the large Pokémon, it puffed up its chest in effort to make itself look intimidating as well, which was a futile effort.

Samurai smirked at the little Pokémon's antics; he believed it to be an easy win. "Pinsir, use tackle!" Samurai commanded. The large bug Pokémon charged at Poliwag, but it was too low to land the attack since Poliwag had jumped out of the way.

"Poliwag use Water Gun" Thomas yelled as he snapped his fingers, the little Pokémon let loose a blast of water from its mouth with hit Pinsir right in the back, causing it to wince in pain.

"Pinsir, keep it together and use Tackle once again" Samurai shouted desperately. The Beetle turned around to face Poliwag once again, this time its attack did not miss.

The Stag Beetle Pokémon smashed into Poliwag with great force, it didn't help that Pinsir was much larger then force of the hit sent Poliwag flying into the Bushes. "Oh no, Poliwag are you ok?" Thomas asked, he ran over to the bushes, only to find the little Pokémon knocked out cold.

"You did very well you first time, return and have a good rest" Thomas said as he recalled Poliwag back into its Pokeball. It was his very first Trainer battle, and he lost. But instead of being upset or frustrated, he thanked Samurai for the battle, and walked off into the forest.

"Hey wait! Where are you going?" Ash called to him. Thomas didn't turn around; instead he just shouted that he would be back later, Cubone hurried after its trainer.

"Wait for me!" Macy yelled as she wanted to follow Thomas, but she stopped herself, she felt it would be better for him if he was alone at the moment.

"Very well then, seems like I am the victor" Samurai said, he recalled his Pinsir. He then turned to Ash, and instead of pointing his sword at him, he just used his finger instead.

"You! You are also a trainer from the town of Pallet correct?" Samurai said, clearly smug about his victory against Thomas's Poliwag.

Before Ash could answer, the forest was filled with a soft buzzing sound. "PikaPi?" Pikachu said as the small electric rodent perked up its ears. "Huh, Pikachu what is it?" Ash asked the small Pokémon. The buzzing intensified; it seemed to be getting closer.

"Oh no, is that?" Misty said, she was clearly very frightened.

"A swarm of Beedrill!" Samurai exclaimed as he pointed towards the sky. Sure enough, dozens of Beedrill soon appeared, they seemed very angry.

"But we didn't do anything? Why are the Beedrill angry?" Serena cried, she really wasn't in the mood to do anymore running.

"There never has to be a reason for a Beedrill swarm, we better run while we can" Ash said, trying to hurry the group along.

"Indeed, we can take shelter in my cabin, it's just a few hundred yards that way" Samurai said, pointing towards a small dirt path.

The group ran down the dirt road, with the Beedrill in hot pursuit. Ash managed to smash his foot against a stone along the path, while it didn't cause him to loose balance and fall; a pokeball unhooked from his belt and released the Pokémon held within. It was Ash's Metapod!

Ash didn't notice until it was too late, he saw a Beedrill flying overhead holding what looked to be his Metapod. Ash checked his belt clip without stopping, only to find that Metapod's pokeball did indeed fall off as he was running.

"No! Metapod!" Ash screamed, he locked his eyes on the Beedrill and didn't look away. He would have ran right past Samurai's cabin if Serena didn't grab his shirt collar to redirect him in time.

They ran into the Cabin and shut the door, Ash and Samurai held their backs against the door to prevent the Beedrill from breaking it down. Serena yelped when a Beedrill stinger pierced right through the door, barely missing Ash and Samurai. Misty grabbed a wooden chair from the corner of the cabin and propped it under the door handle so Ash and Samurai didn't have to hold it shut. Of course the first thing Ash tried to do was jump out the cabin window to go try to rescue his Metapod, luckily Serena beat him to it and blocked it.

"Serena get out of the way, I'm going out there to get Metapod back." Ash said as he struggled to get by Serena, who was determined not to let him go back out there.

"Don't you even think about it Ash Ketchum, Those Beedrill could kill you!" Serena shouted at him, a hint of worry in her voice.

"You should listen to your friend" Samurai butted in, clearly unimpressed by Ash's rash behavior. "Those Beedrill are incredibly deadly, especially in a swarm this large. Our best bet is to wait them out."

As much as Ash hated to admit it, he had to stay in the cabin and wait out the swarm, it was their only chance to find Metapod after all.

"Haven't any of you noticed? Thomas is still out there!" Macy shouted at her friends, she was very upset that her friends had forgotten about him.

"If your friend was smart, he would have ran down to the river, Beedrill dislike water. It would be his best bet to escape them." Samurai told her, the expression on his face did not change.

After an hour, Ash and Macy got tired of waiting.

"That's it, I'm not sitting around here any longer, and I'm going out there to find Metapod and Thomas" Ash said. He stood up and advanced towards the door, Macy followed.

"Fine, it's been an hour, Beedrill are not very patient so they might have left. But everyone keep their guard up" Samurai warned.

"Any Beedrill that get close will feel the wrath of Pikachu's thundershock, right buddy" Ash asked the little Electric rodent riding on his shoulder, Pikachu sparked up its cheeks as a response.

"Beedrill are weak to fire type attacks, Lizzy should be able to help to" Macy added, she released the Flame Pokémon from its pokeball. "Charr Charmander!" Lizzy said as it heated up its fiery tail.

"They don't like water either, me and Misty can back you up if anything goes wrong, right Misty?" Serena added. Misty was shaking head to toe; the thought of meeting up with those Beedrill again scared her half to death, but she nodded in agreement.

"Right, let's go find our friends" Ash said as he went to go open up the cabin door, the forest no longer buzzed with activity.

"Seems as if all the Beedrill left" Serena said, she wiped the sweat from her forehead as the possibility of another encounter with the swarm seemed low.

"Hey, are you guys looking for something?" A voice shouted from up on the hill adjacent to Samurai's cabin. The group turned towards to voice to see Thomas standing on the hill, with Cubone on his head and holding Metapod in his right arm.

"Thomas! Man it's great to see you're ok, thanks for finding Metapod also!" Ash yelled back, relieved that both his friend and his Pokémon where ok.

"Yea, I was just trying to find some berries to eat when I stumbled across Metapod here" Thomas shouted. The whole group sweat dropped; of course Thomas was out looking for food while they got attacked by a swarm of Beedrill.

Suddenly, a lone Beedrill swooped out of the Trees and tried to attack Thomas. "Whoaaaaaaaaa" Thomas shouted as he just narrowly dodged the Beedrill's attack, but it threw him off balance and he took a tumble down the hill. As he was falling Metapod flew out of his Arms, but Ash managed to catch it in time.

Thomas stopped at the bottom of the hill, luckily he wasn't hurt badly, except for a few minor bruises.

"Thomas are you ok?" Macy panicked, she ran over to inspect his wounds, but he got up before she got there.

"Yea yea I'm fine, just some minor bruises, Cubone buddy, are you ok?" Thomas asked his little partner. "Cubone Cu!" The little Pokémon said while nodding, it proceeded to once again climb on top of Thomas's head and sit.

Macy was relieved, but the silence was broken when Serena let out a scream, the Beedrill that knocked Thomas off the hill had returned, and was charging straight for Ash and Metapod.

Ash held Metapod tightly, determined to protect his Pokémon at any cost. Suddenly, Metapod began to glow brightly. The light from Metapod blinded the group temporarily.

When the light faded, Ash looked down to see that the Beedrill stinger had broken off when it hit Metapod's shell, but it left a gaping hole in its shell.

"Oh no! Metapod are you ok? Are you hurt?" Ash began pleading to the Cocoon Pokémon. But to the surprise of the whole group, another white light was coming from _inside_ of Metapods shell.

Everyone stood back and watched in awe as a pair of white wings with black veins emerged from the now vacant green shell, followed by a light purple creature with large red eyes and two large antennae sprouted form its head.

The whole group was taken aback by Metapod's sudden evolution. Serena took out her pokedex to scan the new Pokémon.

"Butterfree, the Butterfly Pokémon, in battle, it flaps its wings at great speed to release highly toxic dust into the air. It is the evolved form of Metapod." The pokedex recited in its normal monotone voice.

Ash marveled at the Butterfly Pokémon, he had never expected his Caterpie to reach its final stage so soon, they had only been together for about a week. "Free Freee" the Pokémon exclaimed as it stretched out its newfound wings.

"Alright Butterfree!" Ash shouted happily as he pumped his fists in the air. His friends all ran over to her to congratulate their friend and his Pokémon. Within all the commotion Thomas had accidentally stepped on Pikachu's tail, causing the little mouse to unleash a Thundershock on the whole group. They all crumpled to the ground, their skin slightly charred from the attack, but they all just sat there and laughed, enjoying each other's company. Samurai watched the scene with interest, wondering how great it must be to have friends you can always count on.

It was early next morning, Samurai had allowed them to spend the night in his cabin, since yesterday's events left everyone a little exhausted.

"Oh Samurai, we never did have that battle now did we?" Ash said, he had forgiving Samurai for all his crazy antics yesterday.

"Indeed we didn't, but I have a feeling we will meet again, and I will not lose to you then either Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town" Samurai replied, still maintaining his rather odd way of speaking.

"You can bet on a rematch from me as well" Thomas butted in. Samurai nodded as he told them he would look forward to the day that happens.

The group had made a new friend, Ash's Metapod had evolved into Butterfree after saving him from a Beedrill, and they are well on their way to Pewter City, the sight of Ash and Thomas's first gym battle, and hopefully their first win.


	6. Chapter 6: Pewter City

**Authors note: In this Chapter it is relieved that Macy and Serena's goals will involve tag battles, though I didn't go into extreme detail about what the tournament is and how it works. But don't worry, I will touch on the subject more when our Heroes reach Cerulean City. For now, Enjoy Chapter 6.**

**(Once again, please excuse any minor mistakes, and leave a review telling me about what you think of the story so far, your feedback means a lot to me as a writer)**

* * *

Chapter 6

Pewter City

After the long trek through Viridian forest, the group had finally made it to Pewter city right as the sun was about set. Lucky for them the Pewter City Pokémon center was located right at the entrance to the city. The group walked up to the front desk to request rooms for the night, Thomas was disappointed that the Pokémon center cafeteria wasn't open for dinner.

"Finally we actually get to sleep in beds; I was getting tired of camping out in the forest." Misty said, relieved.

"Yea, our first gym battle is tomorrow as well, I'm super psyched" Ash said as he pumped his fist into the air excitedly.

"Yea but, Ash you don't have any Pokémon that will do well in this gym." Thomas said to him. While it was true that Ash's Pokémon didn't have any advantages over the Pewter gym specialty type, Thomas had both Cubone and Poliwag, who had the advantage over Rock type Pokémon.

"I know that, but we have been training super hard lately, I believe in the strength of my Pokémon" Ash said, not letting the type disadvantage his Pokémon had deter him. "Oh yea, by the way, Macy, Serena, since you two are not going to be taking the Pokémon league challenge, have you guys decided what you're going to do?" Ash asked the two girls, who were just listening to the two boy's conversation from the background.

"Oh um, well actually I did pick up this flyer when we walked into the city" Serena said as she held up a blue and red piece of paper. It was a promotional flyer for a new type of battle facilities called "Tag tournaments".

"Tag tournament? I've heard of those, its where two trainers pair up to take on another pair of trainers in a double battle" Misty explained. "It's set up like a tournament, whichever pair manages to win all of their battles wins the tournament and receives a special stamp. When you have acquired seven of them the pair are given the title of Top Tag Team" Misty continued to explain. The idea of it intrigued Serena and Macy.

"That sounds great! It says here on the flyer that there is one here in Pewter city, as well as others scattered all across the region" Macy said as she read the flyer.

"Sounds to me more like an overcomplicated Pokémon gym challenge, plus both of you only have one Pokémon, no way you can compete in the Tag tournament here" Ash added, immediately managing to tick off the two girls. But they both knew he was right, they couldn't enter a tournament like this with only one Pokémon each, it would tire them out to quickly.

"Yea, I guess your right" Serena sighed, a look of disappointment spread across the Honey-blond girls face.

"Hey now, we could challenge these tournaments anytime we want, there's plenty of time to catch new Pokémon." Macy said, trying to cheer up her friend.

"Macy's right, it says here that there are 14 tag tournament facilities in Kanto, even if you guys miss the one here in Pewter city, you can always enter the one in Cerulean city when we get there" Thomas added.

"Yea, Cerulean city…" Misty said unenthusiastically.

"Hm? Is something wrong with Cerulean city?" Macy asked.

"What? No there's nothing wrong, it's just um, and I heard Vermillion city was very nice this time of year, it would be a disappointment not to go there first." Misty said in a panicky tone. She was obviously hiding something, but it was too late for any of the group to care.

Thomas noticed that Cubone was falling asleep on top of his head; Ash as well noticed that Pikachu was looking tired as well. "Well, I guess there is no point in staying up later then we already have, might as well get some rest for tomorrow." Thomas said, about 2 seconds later his comment was complimented by a yawn from the entire group.

* * *

It was about 10am the next morning, the girls were eating breakfast on the tables behind the Pokémon center while Thomas and Ash were taking advantage of the Pokémon centers training course.

"Cubone, use Bonemerang, Poliwag use Water Gun!" Thomas commanded, both of his Pokémon executed their respective attacks and hit the targets dead on.

While Thomas was training his Pokémon in accuracy, Ash was still trying to find a way past his Pokémon's type disadvantages. He finally decided to use Pikachu's speed and Butterfree's Psychic attacks to his advantage.

Both Thomas's and Ash's Pokémon had learned a variety of new moves while they trained in Viridian forest. Ash's Pikachu had learned Agility and Quick Attack while Butterfree learned Confusion and Psychic. Thomas's Cubone had learned Bonemerang and Headbutt while his Poliwag learned Hypnosis, which would definitely come in handy in the upcoming match.

"Hey you guys, don't you think it would be a good idea to take a break and check out the city?" Misty asked, she was getting bored just sitting there watching them train for their upcoming match.

"I suppose we could take a break, how about it Ash?" Thomas asked Ash, the Raven hair boy just nodded as he continued to think about his strategy against the Gym leaders Rock type Pokémon.

* * *

They walked around the city for about an hour, Serena ended up dragging Macy into a boutique she found interesting. They told Ash, Thomas and Misty that they would meet them at the Gym when it was time for the Gym challenge. The group (minus Macy and Serena) continued to walk around, they passed the Pewter City museum, some Scientist in a lab coat was out front ranting on about something that had to do with reviving fossil Pokémon, and Thomas thought he was just letting out a lot of hot air. They passed a Trainer shop, in the windows where several small machines that looked like CDs.

"Oh hey look, a TM shop. It would be sweet to buy one of those and teach some of our Pokémon new moves. But they look pretty pricey." Thomas said as he peered into the shop window.

"A TM, what's that?" Ash asked with a puzzled look on his face. Misty and Thomas gave him a deadpan look, for a boy that wanted to conquer the Pokémon league, he sure was clueless.

"A TM, or technical machine, allows you to teach moves to your Pokémon that they wouldn't be able to learn naturally" Misty explained. "Also, with the three new Pokémon types that were recently discovered, there are tons of cool moves to teach your Pokémon".

"If I remember correctly, the new types were Dark, Steel and the Fairy type correct? I heard the Steel type was very effective against rock Pokémon, maybe that's just what you need to give you the edge in the upcoming battle Ash" Thomas said. He had a point, Ash's Pokémon were at an extreme disadvantage, if he could teach his Pokémon some steel type moves, it might give him the winning edge.

"Yea, that would be cool and all, but we don't have enough money to buy a TM, how do we even know any of my Pokémon can learn steel type moves?" Ash asked, he also brought up good points.

"Well Ash, I do kind of have a little extra money…" Thomas said as he pulled out a huge wad of cash from his jacket pocket.

"Whoa! You could buy the whole store with that much money, why do you have so much?" Misty said in awe.

"It's my snack funds." Thomas replied. Misty and Ash sweat dropped, only Thomas could eat 50,000$ worth of snacks.

"Any who, this TM here in the window, it's called Iron tail, I'm positive Pikachu can learn it. It's only about 5,000$, I will still have plenty of money left over for snacks" Thomas said, offering to buy Ash the TM.

"I couldn't ask you to do that, I mean it's your money" Ash said. He and Thomas were friends for 5 years and he never asked him to do anything like this (Unless you counted sneaking a Weedle into Gary's sleeping bag at summer camp, but it was worth it).

"It's fine, I will be right back" Thomas said as he entered the trainer store. He came back out 5 minutes later holding two of the CD like devices, one of them was royal blue and the other was a light grey color.

"Here Ash, the TM Iron tail" Thomas said as he handed Ash the grey CD. He took the royal blue one and put it in his bag.

"Hm, Thomas what was that other TM?" Misty asked.

"Oh, that's the TM Dragon Claw, I'm know that Macy's Charmander can learn it so I thought it would be nice to pick it up for her" Thomas replied nonchalantly.

"Oh, I see" Misty said, she was getting a sly look on her face.

"Hm, is something wrong with that?" Thomas asked, taking note of the water trainer's expression.

"No, no, nothing wrong with it at all, come on lets go try out that TM" Misty said, she began skipping along back towards the Pokémon center. That was so out of character for Misty, that it left Ash and Thomas wondering if she was broken or something.

* * *

They enter back into the Pokémon center. Macy and Serena were not there so they guessed that Serena was still dragging Macy through the boutiques in the city.

"Well, let's try out this TM, um, how do I use it?" Ash asked. Thomas took the TM from Ash and look at Pikachu, who was resting on Ash's shoulder.

"Here, I will do it, Pikachu can you hop onto this table please?" Thomas asked the little electric mouse.

"Pika pi" Pikachu replied. It hopped onto the table and stood still as Thomas unfolded two clamps that where on the side of the TM. He placed the clamps around Pikachu's head and pressed the button on the center of the CD. The machine began to vibrate violently.

"Hey whoa! What are you doing?" Ash yelled, he tried to remove the TM from Pikachu's head in the process, but Thomas stopped him and pointed out that Pikachu is showing no sign of discomfort. The machine finally stop vibrating and Thomas removed it from Pikachu's head and promptly threw it away.

"There we are, Pikachu should now be able to perform the move Iron Tail, a Steel type attack." Thomas exclaimed, pointing at Pikachu like it's an upgraded toy.

"Wow really? Just like that?" Ash asked, amazed that such a small machine was capable of teaching his Pokémon a move of a completely different type.

"Yup, why don't we test it out with a little practice battle huh, Cubone you want to battle?" Thomas asked the little Pokémon, but to his surprise, Cubone was not on top of his head.

"Huh? Cubone where are you?" Thomas called out for his Pokémon. Suddenly his Backpack unzipped by itself and Cubone emerged, rubbing its eyes, it was probably sleeping.

"Oh, sorry to wake you Cubone, but how about it, a practice battle with Ash and Pikachu?" Thomas kneeled down to ask the little Pokémon.

"Cu!" Cubone said, nodding its head.

"Great! Pikachu how about you, you up for a practice match?" Ash asked his Pokémon. Pikachu got into a fighting stance and sparked its cheeks; Ash took it as a yes.

"Alright, let's go out onto the practice field" Thomas said.

"Hold it! Have you two forgotten something?" Misty said, she crossed her arms and was tapping her foot in a way that let the boys know she was clearly aggravated.

"Forgotten something?" Ash blinked, clueless.

"Your Gym battles are scheduled for 3pm, look at the clock." Misty said as she pointed towards the clock on the Pokémon center wall. The clock read 2:45.

"We are going to be late!" Ash yelled, he took off running through the Pokémon center doors and down the street. Thomas turned to Misty and said, "Man, I'm getting the strangest sense of Déjà vu" they both began running to catch up with Ash who took the head start.

Macy and Serena where waiting at the entrance to the Gym. Macy was carrying what looked to be 10,000 pounds worth of shopping bags.

"Macy, it was so nice of you to offer to carry all the bags." Serena said as she searched through one of the large shopping bags.

"Yes, I totally offered to carry all of your bags" Macy grumbled in a sarcastic tone. Serena pretended not to hear her complaints.

"Hey guys! Sorry we are late!" a familiar voice yelled from down the street. It was Ash, followed closely by Misty and Thomas, Cubone was holding on to Thomas's hair, struggling to stay on top of his trainers head.

"It's fine! We only just got here!" Serena yelled back, waving to them.

Ash, Thomas and Misty reached the two girls, panting and exhausted. "Whoa Macy, don't you think you went a little overboard with the shopping?" Ash said. Macy's temper began to rise, but she cooled down as she saw Thomas shaking his head at her. Letting her know it's not something to get angry about. She didn't say anything, but she grunted as the weight of the bags started to crush her arms.

"Here Ash, I bought you this to wish you good luck in the gym battle!" Serena said as she handed Ash a wristband, it was painted black with a golden symbol in the center; it was the elemental symbol for "Lighting".

"I thought it would suit you perfectly since your starter was an electric type" Serena said, blushing slightly.

"Thanks Serena, it looks great" Ash said, he put the wristband on. Pikachu seemed to like the lighting charm as well.

"Also, Macy picked this one out for you Thomas, but since her hands are full, I will get it" Serena said as she reached into one of the bags Macy was carrying, she pulled out a small black necklace with a small rock at the end. Engraved into the rock was the elemental symbol for "Earth". Thomas had already guessed that it's because he starter Pokémon was a Ground type. Macy face turned red, either from embarrassment or the sheer weight of all the shopping bags.

"Thanks for the presents guys" Thomas said as he admired the necklace before putting it on. It matched perfectly with his grey T-shirt he wore underneath his jacket.

"With all your support, I know we are going to beat this Gym!" Ash said excitedly, pumping his fists into the air.

"Remember Ash, Gym leaders are no push overs, this is going to be a lot harder than any other match you've had before" Misty noted. She was the most experienced trainer in the group, but she rarely ever acted like it.

"I know, but we have been training so hard that I know we can do it, now let's go inside." Ash said, he could barely contain his excitement. Everyone smiled at the optimist that was Ash Ketchum, but none of them knew what challenges would lay inside the Pewter City Gym.


	7. Chapter 7: Showdown at The Pewter Gym

**Authors Note: So I decided to break down the Pewter City gym match into two parts, one featuring Thomas's battle and Ash's battle. I tried to make each battle intense with their own little surprises. For those of you wondering when Macy and Serena will catch their first Pokemon, you can expect that in chapter 9. Remember, there is a poll on my page on whether or not Brock should be a constant traveling companion for the group or will only show up during important plot points to offer advice. You can submit your answer in the review section as well. Anywho, enjoy Chapter 7.**

* * *

Chapter 7

Showdown at Pewter Gym, Thomas Vs. Brock

The Gym was dark at first, no lights were on, and the building didn't seem to have windows either.

"Hello, Is anyone there? We would like to challenge the Gym?" Ash shouted. Thomas decided it was worth trying to find a light switch, but the lights seemed to turn on by themselves as a response to Ash's question. The entire Gym floor was a massive dirt battle field with several large boulders and a bunch of smaller ones scattered about. Across from the group was a Teenage boy who seemed to be around 18-19 years old. He had light-brown skin and messy black hair; he wore long grey cargo pants and a brown T-shirt with a green vest.

"I am Brock, The Pewter City gym leader, state your name challenger." The Gym leader said, His voice stern and commanding.

"My name is Ash Ketchum, and this is my partner Pikachu, we are here to challenge you to a Gym battle for the Boulder badge" Ash replied, he had a confident look on his face.

Brock studied Ash, but then looked over to Thomas.

"You there, the kid with the Cubone on his head, do you also wish to challenge the Gym?" Brock said as he pointed towards Thomas, who was, as usual, eating a candy bar he had stuffed in his bag.

Thomas swallowed the piece of candy and replied, "Yes I am, my name is Thomas by the way". Thomas broke off a piece of his candy bar and offered it to Cubone, who took it and ate it happily.

Brock studied Thomas as well, the boy clearly knew what his was doing since he brought a Ground type Pokémon to battle against his Rock types, at least he assumed Thomas would use Cubone.

"Very well, I would like you challenge you to battle first." Brock said.

"Hey wait! I challenged you first!" Ash said in a somewhat annoyed tone, Brock just glared at him.

"Last time I checked I was the Leader of this Gym, and I request a battle with your friend first" Brock replied, not impressed by Ash's reaction.

"Um well, I guess if it's ok with Ash" Thomas said, He looked over to the raven haired boy, who was obviously annoyed. Ash just nodded and said, "Well, you better beat him for me."

"Ok then, well Brock I accept your Challenge." Thomas said, despite this being his first official Pokémon league match, he was rather calm and relaxed. Being good under pressure was one of his best qualities after all.

Brock nodded. "I would like to ask your friends to go up onto the viewing balcony so they are not in the way of the match." he said.

His friends went over to the stairs that led up to the viewing balcony, except for Macy who stayed to wish him good luck. She left all of Serena the shopping bags at the gym entrance, as much as she loved carrying thousands of pounds of clothes, her arms were too tired. Thomas gave her the thumbs up and told her not to worry; Macy smiled and ran up the stairs to accompany Serena, Misty and Ash on the viewing balcony.

"Do you know the rules of a Pokémon League gym match? I assume this is your first one" Brock asked the blonde boy.

"Yes, only the Challenger, that's me, can substitute Pokémon, the amount of Pokémon used in the battle is decided by the Gym leader" Thomas said. Brock was impressed at the new trainer's knowledge; he knew that this would be a good match no doubt.

"I have four Pokémon in my possession, but for this match I shall request a two on two battle" Brock said, he noticed that other than Cubone, Thomas seemed to only have one other Pokémon.

"That's fine by me, may the best trainer win." Thomas said, he took his position on the battle field as Brock took his.

"Then let the battle begin, Geodude let's go!" Brock yelled as he released his first Pokémon. It was a gray boulder with a face and two arms with rather large fists.

"Ok then, Poliwag I choose you!" Thomas said as he released the small Tadpole Pokémon. Poliwag once again puffed up its chest to try to make itself look tougher, causing Macy and Serena to giggle at the little Pokémon's antics.

"You may have the first move as the challenger" Brock said, he was not surprised to see Thomas use a water type against his Rock Pokémon.

"Ok then, Poliwag use Water gun!" Thomas commanded. Poliwag shot a high pressured blast of water at Geodude, since it was too slow to get out of the way; it was hit square in the face. The pressure of the blast pushed Geodude back considerably, but the Boulder just shook it off.

"Geodude, use Rock throw now!" Brock said. Geodude then began smashing the smaller boulders on the battle field and hurling them at Poliwag. Fortunately Poliwag was able to take cover behind one of the larger boulders on the field.

"Poliwag jump above the battlefield and use Water gun again!" Thomas shouted. Poliwag jumped up from behind the boulder and sprayed Geodude with another blast of water, weakening it considerably.

"Geodude, don't give up and use Stone Edge!" Brock shouted. Despite is weakened state; Geodude nodded and performed the attack. Dozens of small stones formed around Geodude and were sent flying towards Poliwag at an alarming speed.

"Poliwag, quickly try to dodge!" Thomas shouted. Unfortunately the stone edge hit its mark, knocking Poliwag to the ground.

"Poli.." The little Pokémon emitted weakly, it stood back up, but winced in pain from the powerful attack.

"Poliwag, are you sure you want to continue?" Thomas asked his friend, concerned for its wellbeing.

"Poli!" Poliwag said as it nodded.

"That's rather impressive, you must care a lot about your Pokémon to ask its permission before making it continue battling. But, does Poliwag have what it takes to beat Geodude?" Brock asked. He looked at Thomas's battered Poliwag, and then back to his own Pokémon, who had taken heavy damage from Poliwag's water attacks before.

"Of course it does, we still have a trick up our sleeve" Thomas said, he smirked confidently.

Up on the balcony everyone was on the edge of their seats, the battle seemed so intense.

"Thomas made a good choice choosing Poliwag, I wonder if his trick is to use Poliwag's new skill they learned while training in Viridian forest" Serena said.

"No doubt, if Thomas can land that attack, then the battle is his." Ash said, he was trying to learn about Brock's battling style as he watched the battle closely. The rest of them nodded in agreement, Thomas knew that if Poliwag could land the next attack, then it was over for Geodude.

"Poliwag, Use Hypnosis!" Thomas shouted. The spiral pattern on Poliwag's stomach began to glow blue. Geodude couldn't help but stare at the scene, the Hypnosis attack had worked, it caught Geodude's attention and caused it to fall asleep.

"What! I've never seen that trick before!" Brock exclaimed, shocked by the use of a sleep status move.

"Great, now while Geodude is asleep use Water gun maximum power!" Thomas shouted . Poliwag nodded as it walked up to the sleeping Geodude and blasted it with a powerful Water gun, knocking it out cold.

"Geodude, return" Brock said as he recalled the Boulder Pokémon.

"Very impressive, using Poliwag's hypnosis to render Geodude incapable of retaliating, But let's see how you handle this next Pokémon, Kabutops, let's go!" he said as he released his next Pokémon. Misty almost fell out of her seat.

"A Kabutops? But they have been..." Misty shouted in surprise, but Brock finished her sentence for her.

"Extinct for 2,000 years? Yes they have. But thanks to the researchers at the Pewter city museum, they were able to revive this Pokémon from an old fossil I had in my possession." Brock said.

Lo and behold, a light brown Pokémon with several rib-like spikes protruding out of the sides of its back stood there, it had twin scythes for arms. It looked incredibly strong and intimidating.

Thomas immediately remembered walking by the Museum earlier today, he recalled a Scientist talking about reviving fossil Pokémon. He thought it was just some promotional stunt, but the proof was right in front of him, a real live fossil Pokémon.

"So, are you still feeling up to battle against my Kabutops?" Brock said as he smirked.

"If Poliwag is up to battle, then I am too, are you ready buddy?" Thomas asked the tadpole.

"Poli!" it nodded, puffing up its tiny chest.

"Ok then, Poliwag Hypnosis!" Thomas commanded once again, doubting that the same strategy would work twice.

"We won't fall for that again, Kabutops use Sandstorm!" Brock commanded the Ancient Pokémon. Kabutops nodded and summoned a huge vortex of swirling sand, he sent it straight at Poliwag. The tornado of sand made contact with Poliwag and flung it against the wall, knocking it out in one shot.

Thomas gritted his teeth. "Poliwag, return!" he said as he recalled Poliwag into its pokeball, he thanked it for its hard work.

"You see, Kabutops will not be defeated so easily." Brock said. He sure was tough, but Thomas knew he could beat him. Judging from the huge scythes Kabutops had as hands, and its slim figure, it could no doubt move fast and strike hard. Thomas needed a good defensive pokemon that could strike back just as hard, luckily he had that.

"Cubone, are you ready for action?" Thomas asked his partner, who sat on top of his head.

"Cubone cu!" Cubone exclaimed, it hopped off of Thomas's head and onto the battlefield.

"Be careful Thomas! Kabutops is a Rock and Water Type Pokémon!" Macy shouted down to him.

A Rock and water type? Now that was interesting. Thomas knew that Cubone's ground type attacks would do lots of damage to a Rock type like Kabutops. But Cubone was weak to Water Type moves, which Kabutops no doubt had at its disposal.

"Cubone, use Bonemerang!" Thomas yelled, he knew he had to attack Kabutops from a distance. Cubone proceeded to throw his club like a boomerang at Kabutops. The attack hit dead on, but barely fazed Kabutops, the club returned to Cubone's hand.

"Is that all you got? Kabutops use Slash!" Brock shouted. The fossil Pokémon ran at an incredible speed and began to swing its scythe arms at Cubone, luckily Cubone was able to block each hit with its club.

"Now, while it is close use Bone club!" Thomas shouted, knowing that Cubone's close ranged attacks where stronger. Cubone smashed its club into Kabutops knee, causing the Pokémon to kneel down and wince in pain.

"Great! Cubone use Bone club one more time!" Thomas shouted, thinking he could end the battle quickly.

"Not so fast, Kabutops blast Cubone away with scald and retreat underground with Dig!" Brock commanded. The ancient Pokémon did what it was told and blasted the advancing Cubone backwards with a blast of steaming water. It then dug a hole and retreated under the battlefield.

"Cubone, quickly get back up! Kabutops could reappear anywhere!" Thomas shouted in a slightly panicky tone. Before Cubone could stand back up, Kabutops appeared right under him and hit Cubone dead on.

"Great, now Kabutops go back underground" Brock said, he was ready to get the battle over with.

Thomas watched at the fossil Pokémon disappeared back underground. Cubone struggled to get back up, but it managed to stand back on its own two feet. Thomas remembered that he had prepared for Brock to use a move like dig. He flashed back to when he was in the TM shop, even though his friends thought he had only bought two TMs, while he was in the store he bought a 3rd one and used it on Cubone in the store. The TM was light brown in color.

"Cubone, use Earthquake!" Thomas shouted.

Brock's eyes widened in shock, Earthquake was an extremely powerful ground-type move, he never would have expected a beginning Pokémon like Thomas's Cubone to have such a powerful move as its disposal.

Cubone nodded, it jumped high into the air and stomped back onto the ground, sending massive shockwaves through the battlefield. Brock's Kabutops crawled out of its hole, covered in scrapes and bruises; it fainted from the huge amounts of damage it took from Cubone's Earthquake.

Cubone collapsed from exhaustion, the massively powerful move took a lot out of the little Pokémon. Thomas walked out onto the battlefield and held the exhausted Cubone in his arms; he thanked it for its incredible performance. Cubone smiled and nodded its head happily.

"Kabutops return, you did great" Brock said, he recalled the fainted fossil Pokémon into its pokeball. He then walked up to Thomas and presented him with a gray, boulder-shaped badge.

"This is the Boulder badge, it is proof that you defeated me in battle and will help authorize you for the Pokémon league challenge." Brock said. He shook hands with Thomas. His friends came down from the viewing balcony to congratulate him on his win.

"Thomas! Congratulations." Serena said, Misty gave him thumbs up and Ash patted him on the back, congratulating him on his win. Macy didn't say anything, but instead she gave him a surprise hug and told him she knew he could do it. Macy realized what she was doing and quickly let go, she was blushing wildly.

"Uh..Um..Well… thanks guys" Thomas stuttered, not really sure what just happened.

Serena and Misty looked at each other and giggled, Thomas really was dense. Ash didn't pay much attention to the scene as he was awaiting his battle with Brock. Macy turned around, trying to hide her still blushing face.

"Now, Ash I'm afraid we won't have time for our match today since I need to get my Pokémon to the Pokémon center right now." Brock said to Ash. This caused Ash to sulk in disappointment.

"Hold on, I can take your Pokémon to the center for you and you can stay here and battle Ash with your two remaining Pokémon." Thomas offered, it was the least he can do since he took Ash's battle spot and defeated Brock's Pokémon.

"Thank you that would be very helpful" Brock said, he handed Kabutop's and Geodude's Pokeballs to Thomas.

"Hopefully you will be back in time to see me win!" Ash said confidently, after observing Brock's battle style earlier, he was sure he could win.

"I will try." Thomas said as he picked his backpack up off the ground. He suddenly remembered the necklace May had bought for him earlier, and sighed with relief that it was still safely around his neck.

"Hold on, I will come with you to the Pokémon center" Macy said, she had finally pulled herself together and stopped blushing.

"Great, while you two do that me and Misty will stay here to cheer Ash on" Serena said.

"Sounds like a plan, see you guys soon!" Thomas said as he walked out the Gym's front doors, with Macy trailing just a few paces behind.

**Next up Chapter 8: Showdown at Pewter Gym, Ash Vs Brock.**


	8. Chapter 8: Part 2 Ash vs Brock

**Authors note: Huh, I don't actually have a good note to put here this time. All I can ask is that you guys leave a review telling me what you think of the story so far, I sure do appreciate the support that I am getting and I am open to new ideas, so if you have any please feel free to leave them in the review section. Anywho,, enjoy Chapter 8**

**Disclaimer: I still don't own Pokemon or any of its Characters, all rights go to Gamefreak and Nintendo.**

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Chapter 8

Showdown at Pewter Gym, Ash vs. Brock

Ash stood in the very same spot that his friend did when he won his Boulder Badge just moments ago. The Pewter City gym leader, A teenager named Brock, stood across from him on the battlefield, Serena and Misty sat up in the viewing balcony, preparing to watch their second gym match of the day. Ash thought it was a shame that Thomas and Macy wouldn't be there to watch him win, but Thomas did volunteer to bring Brock's Pokémon to the Pokecenter so he could have time for their match. Macy had decided to tag along with him.

"I will remind you that this is a two on two battle, only the Challenger, that's you, will be able to substitute Pokémon. The match ends when either side no longer can battle with any of their remaining Pokémon" Brock said.

"Ok then, let's get this show on the road." Ash replied confidently. After watching Thomas win, he was sure he could do it just as easily.

"Then let the Battle begin, Rhyhorn let's go!" Brock said as he released his pokemon. It was a grey rhinoceros like creature whose body was covered in grey, rocky plates.

"A Rhyhorn huh?" Ash said, he took out his pokedex to scan it.

"_Rhyhorn, The Spikes Pokemon,__Its massive bones are 1000 times harder than human bones. It can easily knock a trailer flying." _The pokedex recited in its normal, monotone voice.

'Rhyhorn doesn't seem like it can attack from a distance, in that case this Pokémon is my best bet' Ash thought, he unclipped a pokeball from his belt. "Butterfree, I choose you!"

"Free free!" The butterfly Pokémon shrieked as it stretched its wings after being released from its pokeball.

"A Bug Pokémon huh? You seem to be very different from your friend; he at least knew what he was doing. But, as the challenger I shall allow you the first move." Brock said, unimpressed by Ash's choice of Pokémon.

Ash growled, he was not going to sit there as Brock insulted his skills as a trainer, he was going to show him. "Butterfree use confusion to launch the boulders on the battlefield at Rhyhorn!"

"Free!" Butterfree replied as its eyes began to glow blue, the boulders around it become shrouded with a blue aura and where picked off the ground and launched at Rhyhorn.

"Rhyhorn, charge threw the boulders and hit Butterfree with a Take Down attack!" Brock commanded. The Spikes pokemon charge forward, smashing threw every boulder that was launched at it without even a scratch, it eventually reached Butterfree and tackled it, knocking it out of the air and into the Gym wall.

"Butterfree are you ok? Can you get up?" Ash called to his Pokémon frantically. To his relief, Buttefree got back onto the battlefield, still raring to go despite the heavy attack.

"Wow, Butterfree sure is one tough bug" Misty said from up on the balcony.

"Well of course, you remember how hard Ash had been training it in Viridian forest; he is very determined to win this Gym match, he will always tries his best to win." Serena said, once again admiring Ash's determination.

"Ok Butterfree, use String Shot on Rhyhorn!" Ash shouted, his plan was forming in his mind as he went along. Butterfree nodded as it shot silk from its mouth at Rhyhorn, but instead of completely covering the Pokémon, it just simply rested on Rhyhorn's plate body.

"Now, use confusion to launch the boulders at Rhyhorn again!" Ash said, hoping his plan would work. Butterfree did what it was told and once again lifted the boulders around the battlefield into the sky and sent them flying towards Rhyhorn.

"Rhyhorn, charge threw the boulders again and use Take Down!" Brock shouted. To his surprise, the String shot from earlier slowed Rhyhorn down enough that it couldn't get the speed it needed to smash threw the boulders, instead each one smashed into Rhyhorn, doing a considerable amount of damage.

When Butterfree's barrage of boulders stopped, Rhyhorn barely had enough strength left to stand up. Brock gritted his teeth in frustration; he didn't expect Ash's Butterfree to be able to execute Psychic attacks so well.

"Rhyhorn! Sandstorm!" Brock said, hoping the Spikes Pokémon had enough energy left to perform the attack. The rhino whipped up a tornado of rocks and sand and sent it flying towards Butterfree, but Ash had a counter.

"Butterfree blow it away with Gust!" Ash shouted.

"Free freeeeee!" Butterfree cried as it flapped its wings rapidly, producing a strong wind that blew away the sandstorm, causing it to dissipate into nothing.

Brock couldn't believe what he was seeing, his rhino was about to be beaten by a butterfly.

"Butterfree, finish it with Psychic!" Ash said. Butterfree's eyes glowed a bright red as it sent a wave of powerful psychic energy towards Rhyhorn, blasting it backwards into the wall as it cried "Rhyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!".

Rhyhorn hit the gym wall with a loud thud; it was knocked out cold from the impact.

"Rhyhorn, return." Brock said as he recalled the fainted Rhino back into its pokeball, he thanked it for its services. He turned to Ash and put on a serious look.

"I seem to have underestimated you, you tactics and strategy with your Butterfree are very impressive and have allowed you to overcome the type disadvantage. However, your luck is about to run out" Brock said as he unclipped a rather strange looking pokeball from his belt. Unlike the normal red and white design of a normal pokeball, the upper-half of it was painted black with a vertical yellow line down each side. "Onix, let's finish this!"

The appearance of the massive Rock snake shocked everyone. Sure, Ash had seen Onix on TV before, but in real life, the thing was unimaginably huge. He took out his pokedex to scan it.

"_Onix, the__ Rock S__nake Pokémon. It__ tunnels through the ground __which shakes when it raises its thunderous roar. It can move the ground __at fifty miles per hour__._" The pokedex said in its monotone voice.

"Butterfree, quickly let's take it out with Sleep Powder!" Ash shouted, he wanted to get rid of Onix as quickly as possible. Before Butterfree could even get ready to attack, it was swatted out of the air by Onix's massive tail.

"Now Onix, finish it off with slam!" Brock commanded. The Rock snake let out a might roar and smashed its tail into Butterfree, who had yet to return to the air after being swatted down. Onix let out another thunderous roar as Butterfree laid on the battlefield, left unconscious from the attack.

"Butterfree, return!" Ash said as he recalled the battered butterfly into its pokeball. "You take a nice long rest now" Ash said to Butterfree inside its pokeball.

Brock chuckled."Do you still think you can defeat me?" he said. Onix roared once again alongside its trainer.

"You bet!" Ash shouted. "Pikachu, are you ready to go?" Ash asked his partner, who was standing next to him.

"Pika!" Pikachu said, it ran onto the battlefield, sparks flying from its cheeks.

"Ok Pikachu use agility!" Ash shouted. Pikachu began running around Onix. Onix tried futilely to smash Pikachu with its tail, but the little rodent was too fast.

"Pikachu now use Iron Tail!" Ash shouted, he hoped that the TM worked.

"Pika!" Pikachu nodded, it began running up Onix's large body and reached its head. Pikachu's tail began to glow white as it smashed its tail into Onix's face.

"Raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" Onix roared in pain as the super effective move made contact. It shook its head and flung Pikachu back onto the battlefield, the Electric mouse landed on its feet.

"So I see you taught your Pikachu some Steel type moves, but will it be enough to win?" Brock questioned. "Onix, use Stone edge!".

The giant Rock Snake shot a large barrage of pointed stones straight at Pikachu.

"Quickly Pikachu, use Agility to dodge!" Ash shouted. Pikachu's amazing speed allowed it dodge most of the stones, but one did eventually hit.

"Chaaaa!" Pikachu cried as it fell to the ground; it winced in pain as it tried to stand back up.

"Pikachu! Are you ok?" Ash asked worryingly. Despite the pain, the little electric mouse stood back up and sparked its cheeks, signaling that it was ready for round 2.

"I have to admit, your Pikachu's resilience is admirable, but my Onix is just too strong." Brock said.

"We will see about that! Pikachu use Agility and Iron tail combination!" Ash shouted. Pikachu did as it was told and ran quickly around Onix, its tail glowing white.

"Onix, hit it with Slam attack!" Brock commanded. But Onix's attacks were to slow to hit the fast moving electric type.

"Now Pikachu, Strike!" Ash shouted. Pikachu leapt into the air and brought its glowing tail down onto Onix's face again.

"Onix, quickly grab Pikachu!" Brock ordered, the Rock Snake grabbed Pikachu with its tail and held it tightly. The little electric mouse tried to struggle, but couldn't break free from Onix's strong grip.

"Pikachu! Hang in there!" Ash shouted, the situation suddenly wasn't looking so good.

Brock smirked; he knew the match was his. "Good Onix, now Bind it!". Onix began tightening its grip on Pikachu, squeezing it tighter and tighter.

"Chaaaa!" Pikachu cried in pain.

Ash could barely watch the scene in front of him. He could see that Pikachu was in great pain, but he saw something else that might help it escape. Pikachu's tail was completely free from Onix's grip!

Ash saw the chance and he took it. "Pikachu use Iron Tail to break free!"

Pikachu nodded, its tail glowed white and it smashed it into Onix's tail that was holding it.

"Raaaaaaaa!" Onix cried in pain as it let go of Pikachu.

"Great, now keep hitting it with Iron Tail!" Ash commanded, moving his arms and hands in a punching motion.

Pikachu leaped up and smashed Onix in the face with its glowing tail, and continued to attack rapidly to keep Onix from retaliating. The Rock Snake had finally had enough; it collapsed on the ground, unable to battle.

Brocks jaw hung open; he had lost for the second time today. A wide smile crept along Ash's face, Pikachu ran up to him and jumped into its trainers arms.

"Yea buddy, we did it, we beat the Pewter city Gym leader!" Ash shouted triumphantly.

"Pika pi!" Pikachu shouted happily as well.

"Wait to go Ash, you did it!" Serena shouted as she ran down the stairs from the viewing balcony, Misty followed close behind.

"Yea, and it was all thanks to your good luck wrist band." Ash said as he tapped the Electric symbol on the black wrist band he wore. It was a gift from Serena from before the match.

"Well, thanks Ash, that means a lot" Serena said, her cheeks turned a light shade of red.

"You know, Ash Ketchum, I didn't think you would be able to do it." Misty said with a playful look on her face.

"Well, just looks like I proved you wrong again Misty." Ash laughed.

Brock smiled at the scene in front of him, he wished that he too could go on a journey with friends that cared about him, but he had other things that came first. He approached Ash and his friends.

"Here Ash, you proved your resourcefulness and skills as a trainer, you deserve this official Pokemon league badge" Brock said as he presented Ash with the Boulder Badge.

"Thank you Brock." Ash said as he accepted the Badge. He held it in his and and struck a pose, holding the badge out. "Yea, I just got the Boulder Badge!" Ash yelled triumphantly, causing everyone to laugh. But their celebration was short lived, as three men in black uniforms entered the Gym, they blocked the front door.

A puzzled Brock looked at the three men."Hm? Excuse me but can I help you three?" Brock asked the three men.

"You can help us by staying quite inside the Gym, cause we won't allow you to leave" One of the three men said, there was an evil grin on his face.

"Oh yea? And who's going to stop us from leaving the Gym?" Misty said, putting her hands on her hips.

All three of the men smirked evilly and unclipped a pokeball from their belts.

"Team Rocket, that's who".

**Next up: Chapter 9, The Battle For Pewter City.**


	9. Chapter 9: Battle For Pewter City

**Authors note: Cliffhangers, don't you love them? Well before we start off here I would like to say is that yes Team Rocket will be a major obstacle for the group time and time again. And as you saw before the groups encounters with Team Rocket will not be limited to just Jessie and James, they will battle grunts and even executives in Future chapters. While Team Rocket will remain a subplot in the story, its still a major one and expect more chapters in the future were the gang finds themselves squaring off against them. And for those of you who read chapter 7, I apologize since i said this chapter would be the one where Serena and Macy catch their first Pokemon, I just couldn't fit that in to this chapter or the next one but expect it soon. While I feel like I did a really bad job at explaining the importance of Team Rocket, you guys might be able to figure it out on your own. Anywho, enjoy chapter 9.**

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Chapter 9

The Battle for Pewter City

Ash had just won his first official Pokémon league gym badge after defeating the Pewter city gym leader, Brock. However, he didn't have time to celebrate because three men declaring to be from Team Rocket appeared and refused to allow them to leave the gym.

"Team Rocket? You meant those thugs who try to steal other peoples Pokémon." Serena asked with a puzzling look, the last Team Rocket members they encountered had white uniforms. She remembered the last time they encountered Team Rocket, how she and her friends almost lost their Pokémon. The thought of that happening again scared her.

"Yes, but this time we are not interested in stealing Pokémon from petty trainers like yourselves, right now we are just here to make sure the Gym leader doesn't interfere with our plans." One of the grunts said. They all looked similar, each one with messy black hair and all sporting the same black uniform with a red R on the front.

"What plans, why is Team Rocket in Pewter city?" Brock asked. He knew the safety of Pewter city and those inside it could be in danger.

"We don't have to tell you, right now all I can say is that I recommend you bunch just stay in here and not make it any harder for yourselves." The grunt said threateningly.

That struck a nerve with Ash, not only did Team Rocket try to take their Pokémon before. But now they are threatening Pewter city and his friends.

"Well, if you're not going to let us out of the gym then I'm going to move you out of the way myself." Ash said angrily, he unclipped a pokeball from his belt.

"Me to" Serena said, overcoming her fear of having her Squirtle taken from her. she took out Squirtle's pokeball and stood next to Ash.

"You can count me in as well" Misty said, as the worlds next Water pokemon master, she wasn't going to let some petty crooks stand in her way. She took a battle stance next to Serena and got out Staryu's pokeball. The three of them prepared to battle their way out of the gym.

"Kids these days just don't know when to quit, well boys, let show them why they should fear Team Rocket." The grunt said with an evil smirk, the other two stood next to him, they all had a Pokeball of their own.

Little did Ash and his friends know, the battle for Pewter City starts now.

"Pidgeotto I choose you!"

"Squirtle, come on out!"

"Misty calls…Staryu!"

The groups pokemon materialized in front of them, like their trainers, they were all determined to teach Team Rocket a thing or two.

"What cute pokemon, we will enjoy crushing them and taking each and every one of them away from you" The grunt said. The trio released their Pokémon. There was a light purple pokemon that stood on four legs and had large, spiny ears. Next to it there was a large, brown rat-like Pokémon with large incisors and a mean expression. The final of the trio's pokemon was a large, blue bat-like pokemon with purple wings and a large, gaping mouth with four fangs. According to Ash's pokedex the pokemon were Nidorino, Raticate, and Golbat. They all looked intimidating and tough, but Ash knew he couldn't let them win.

The battle went back and forth; neither side was giving an inch. Brock watched the battle, unable to do anything since his Rhyhorn and Onix where too weak after the Gym battle and his Kabutops and Geodude were with Thomas and Macy. It seemed like the battle would end in a stalemate until…

"Pidgeotto, use gust!" Ash shouted, determined to finish the fight.

"Pidgeooooooooo!" The bird pokemon screeched as it flapped its wings rapidly. The strong winds lifted the enemy's Nidorino up off the ground and sent in flying into Golbat, knocking them both out. The only pokemon the Team Rocket grunts had left standing was Raticate, who was squaring off against Serena's Squirtle.

"Squirtle, use Tackle!" Serena shouted. The little blue turtle pokemon smashed its body into Raticate. Unfortunately due to the close proximity of the attack, Raticate was able to chomp its incisors down on Squirtle's head, trapping it in a bite attack.

"Squiiiiiirtttttllleeeee!" Squirtle cried in pain as it futilely tried to free itself from Raticate's fangs.

"Ha, you got that girl's pathetic Squirtle, now finish it!" One of the grunts yelled, he proceeded to laugh manically as his Raticate tightened its grip on Squirtle.

"Not so fast, Staryu Water Gun!" Misty called. The starfish pokemon blasted the Raticate with its water gun attack, causing to let go of Squirtle.

"Thanks Misty." Serena said, grateful for the Water trainers quick thinking.

"No problem" Misty smiled back at her, but they looked back towards the Team Rocket grunts with determined faces.

The grunt with the Raticate's face turned red with anger. "Grrr you brats! Raticate use Double-Edge!" the grunt yelled.

"Cate!" The rat grunted as a white aura glowed around it and it charged at Staryu and Squirtle.

"Not on my watch, Pidgeotto use Twister!" Ash commanded. The bird pokemon flapped it's wings rapidly and summoned a howling tornado, and sent it towards Raticate and the Rocket grunts, lifting them all off the ground and into the vortex of wind.

"Now drop em!" Ash smirked. The tornado dissipated and the Rocket grunts along with their pokemon were sent crashing down onto the gym floor. The grunts groaned in pain, they and their pokemon had been defeated by a group kids.

"Now let's see you try keeping me from leaving the gym." Ash said, he grinned triumphantly. He recalled Pidgeotto while giving it praise for defeating Team Rocket. Serena and Misty did the same with their Pokémon. One of the Rocket grunts managed a weak cough and stood up, still battered and bruised from the long fall.

"You brats may have defeated us, but Team Rocket is all over the city. Even if you leave this gym, nothing will keep Team Rocket from achieving its goal." The grunt said weakly struggling to stand.

Serena scoffed, "Well if you three and those other goofballs are the best that Team Rocket has to offer, then I don't think we will have a problem." She said sassily, mocking the grunt.

Brock stepped in from the sidelines, while he was unable to partake in the battle against the three grunts; he was able to assess the situation properly.

"Now, teasing these three isn't going to help us figure out what Team Rocket is doing in the City." He said. "You three go out there and see what's going on, without my Pokémon I'm not going to be a big help to you out there. I will stay here and make sure these grunts don't go anywhere and try to get some information out of them."

Serena and Misty seemed unsure, if there were more Team Rocket grunts waiting for them outside the gym, how could they possibly defeat them all? However, despite the Girl's uncertainty, Ash was ready for action.

"Well, if Team Rocket is out there causing trouble for all the people and pokemon in the city, then I say it's our duty as Pokémon trainers to help drive Team Rocket out." Ash said. He couldn't sit in the gym any longer knowing that innocent people and Pokémon could be feeling the wrath of Team Rocket.

Serena placed her hand over her heart, there was the determination she admired ever since they were kids. Since Ash was always there for her when they were kids, it was time for her to return the favor. "You can count me in Ash, after all, it's our duty as Pokemon trainers." She said as she smiled at her childhood crush.

Ash smiled back. "Thanks Serena, I can always count on you. So how about it Misty? Or is the world's future Water-type master scared?" Ash smirked at the redhead.

"Scared? Ha! Ash Kethchum, after we are done here I'm going to make you eat those words." Misty said as she laughed. Sure Team Rocket was tough, but together they could drive them out of Pewter city.

Brock smiled, the determination of the three trainers in front of him was truly inspiring. Even though he himself wouldn't be able to protect Pewter city from Team Rocket, he felt comfortable leaving it in the hands of these three trainers.

"Now, you three, please be careful. Team Rocket could be all over the city, try to avoid attracting any unnecessary attention." Brock warned. The three trainers just nodded and thanked him for the advice, they were quite confident in their skills and their pokemon. Was this confidence was going to be enough to defeat Team Rocket? no one knows.

* * *

Back at the Pokemon center, Thomas had handed over Cubone and the other pokemon to Nurse Joy to be treated. He felt Macy tug on his jacket.

"Huh, what is it Macy?" Thomas asked, he turned around to see what the red head was looking at. There were two men in black uniforms standing in front of the doors to the pokemon center. They seemed to be letting Trainers inside the center but not allowing them to leave.

Thomas and Macy walked over to the two men; they took notice of the young trainers. "What are you brats looking at? No one is allowed to leave the Pokémon center until we say so." One of the men said harshly.

Macy scowled at the man."Oh yea, and why is that?" she replied. She didn't like the cold feeling these men where giving her, she hated the cold in general.

"It's none of your business little girl, now SCRAM!" The man yelled, but he only succeeded in raising Macy temper. She was about to start her own little riot until Thomas calmed her down.

"Now, there's no need for such harsh treatment. Me and my friend will be leaving you gentlemen alone now." Thomas said calmly. But for whatever reason he dubbed this an appropriate time to eat and took a candy bar out of his pocket, which the man proceeded to snatch from his hand.

"I will be taking this as a payment for your friend's behavior." The man grinned, waving the stolen candy bar in front of Thomas's face. Thomas's expression darkened and his shoulders tensed up.

Macy gulped; she took a few steps back. "Um, I suggest you don't do that, it is a very bad idea." Macy said, her voice was shaky.

The man turned to the redhead. "Oh and why's that, is your friend going to throw a temper tantrum?" the man and his friend laughed. But his joyful expression soon faded as Thomas approached them, his eyes full of anger.

"Oh, something like that..."

* * *

After sneaking around Pewter city and avoiding more Rocket grunts. Ash, Serena and Misty arrived at the Pokemon center, the coast seemed to be clear.

"Now, maybe we can get some of the Trainers inside the pokemon center to help if Team Rocket hasn't driven them all out." Ash said. He approached the Pokemon center entrance with Serena and Misty close behind. Suddenly, two battered men in Black uniforms were tossed out of the Pokemon center doors; they landed directly in front of Ash. One of the men had a candy bar in his hands.

"And that is why you don't take my food." A familiar voice said.

Ash, Serena and Misty looked up from the battered men to see Thomas and Macy standing in the Pokemon center doors.

"Oh hey guys, did you happen to know those two men?" Thomas asked nonchalantly, acting like it was totally normal for a 12yr old to beat up and toss two full grown men out of a Pokémon center.

"Yea, their apart of Team Rocket, another group of them attacked us at the Gym. But we fought them off." Ash replied, still baffled at the fact that Thomas took on and beat two members of Team Rocket without a single scratch on him.

Macy put her hands on her hips, she looked confused. "Team Rocket? You mean those same idiots we encountered in Viridian forest?" she asked.

Serena nodded. "Yes, and their all over the city, we had to avoid tons of them to get here." She replied.

"But why is Team Rocket in Pewter city in the first place? There's nothing special here except…" Thomas thought back to his Gym battle with Brock and the hours before. Brock had mentioned that the Scientist's at the Pewter city museum where able to revive his Kabutops from an old fossil he found. He also remembers one of the grunts mumble something about the museum when he was pummeling them for his Candy bar.

"The museum! Do you think its possible Team Rocket is after the technology the Scientists there used to bring Brock's Kabutops back to life?" Thomas said after his sudden realization.

Misty snapped her fingers. "That's right! Team Rocket is only after powerful and rare pokemon right? Well they could make tons of strong pokemon by reviving them from old fossils!" she said.

"It seems pretty likely to me that's what Team Rocket is after, we should make our way to the museum as soon as possible!" Ash declared, but as usual, he didn't seem to think it all the way through.

"Yea, but Ash, My pokemon are still being treated by Nurse Joy and yours are not in that much better of a condition." Thomas pointed out the exhausted Pikachu that was barely hanging on the Ash's shoulder. "If Team Rocket is really after the Museum laboratory equipment, then that's where most of their strongest members will be."

"Pika…" Pikachu said, exhausted, confirming Thomas's speculation. Ash gritted his teeth, frustrated with their. All of his Pokémon where exhausted from their gym battle, Thomas's to. Misty's Staryu and Serena's Squirtle where no better either from their battle with the Team Rocket grunts back in the gym, the only one out of their entire group who had a Pokémon they could battle with was Macy.

"Seems like you guys could use a little help, that's why I'm here." A female voice said from behind Thomas and Macy. The group turned to see the source of the voice, it was the Pokemon center's Nurse Joy.

Thomas frowned at the pink haired nurse. "Thanks Nurse Joy, but we don't have the time for you to heal each of our pokemon." Thomas said, appreciating her offer.

Nurse Joy giggled and smiled. "While it's true that under normal circumstances it would take almost a full day to heal all of your pokemon, I do happen to have some emergency medicine in the Pokemon center. Come children, follow me." Nurse Joy said as she led the group of trainers back into the Pokemon center.

In the back of the treatment center, Nurse Joy was rummaging through the medicine supplies while the group stood impatiently on the sidelines. She eventually took out several purple bottles of liquid; each one seemed to be a type of spray-on medicine.

"Now these hyper potions will completely revitalize your Pokemon, making them as good as new." Nurse Joy said. "I've already given some to your Cubone and Poliwag Thomas, now I ask the rest of you to release your pokemon." The group nodded and did as they were told. Nurse joy went around to each and every one of their pokemon, spraying them with the Medicine. Soon all the visible wounds of their pokemon had disappeared and they seemed to be full of energy.

"There you go, your pokemon are all fully healed and ready to go!" Nurse Joy said as she smiled at the group happily.

"Alright, thanks Nurse Joy" Ash said, Pikachu ran up and hoped on his shoulder. Cubone took its usual place on top of Thomas's head. Serena and Misty recalled their pokemon back into their pokeballs.

Ash looked around at his friends, they all returned confident looks at him. They all knew the task ahead of them. They were going to storm the Pewter City museum a drive Team Rocket out. They asked other trainers around the pokemon center if they wanted to help, but they were all too afraid to Team Rocket to even try, and they had the right to be scared…

**Next Up...Chapter 10- Museum Mayhem! **


	10. Chapter 10: Museum Mayhem

**Authors note: This chapter is a very important one, it shows how mature the main characters can be and how well they can handle such a tough situation. This chapter is very serious and can get a little dark and violent at some parts. Also to support the fact that the characters are more mature then they were in previous chapters, I have went back and changed their age from 10 to 12, might not seem like that big of a difference, but It makes more sense than having 10 year olds battle a terrorist organisation. As well as it shows how violent and cold some members of Team Rocket can be. I intend on making more of the future chapters have more important and epic battles as well as more detail. All though I think Im going to keep most of the violence and dark themes secluded in the Team Rocket chapters. If you liked the Chapter and the new writing style, please be sure to let me know in the review section, as well as what you think of the story so far.**

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Chapter 10

Museum Mayhem

The Pewter city museum was by far one of the nicest buildings in Pewter. The outside walls where made of pristine marble with hieroglyph-like markings, not something you expect for a building made just to hold old artifacts. Ash and the group snuck around from the side of the building, trying not to attract the attention of the two Rocket grunts guarding the entrance. One of them yawned and leaned back against the wall, judging by that it looks like no one had even bothered to challenge them for entrance into the museum. Instead of charging headfirst into a battle with the Rocket grunts, even though they outnumbered them, Ash had an idea that would let them get by the guards without alerting more grunts inside the museum.

"Man, being on guard duty sucks, nothing ever happens. All those wimpy Pokémon trainers are just hiding in the Pokémon center." The grunt leaning against the wall said.

"Yea, it gets really boring real quickly and…" Before the other grunt could finish his sentence, something caught his eye. A small, purple Pokemon with large, oval red eyes and black veined wings appeared, though instead of flying with its very capable wings, the Pokémon just walked along in front of the grunts, minding its own business and pretending not to notice the grunts. "Hey look, a Butterfree! I heard those things sell for a high price on the black market, let's get it!" the grunt said. That immediately sparked the other grunts interest as he leaves the wall. "Sounds like a plan to me, 3, 2 , 1 GRAB IT!". The grunts made a lung for the Butterfree, however the butterfly just flew away and dodged them. "Why you little runt! Get over here and make me a fortune!" one of the grunts said angrily, jumping up in the air trying to grab Butterfree. "Freee!" Butterfree cried as it flapped its wings quickly in the directions of the two grunts. Shining yellow scales were carried off of Butterfree's wings by the wind it was generating and into the grunts.

"Why…you..little…run.." the grunt said sleepily, he collapsed on the ground, soon followed by his partner. Butterfree's sleep powder attack had taken effect as the two guards fell sound asleep. "Yeah, wait to go Butterfree!" Ash said as he and the rest of the group emerged from their hiding spot besides the building. Butterfree flew over to Ash and landed on his shoulder with a happy "Freee!".

"Well, I got to hand it to you Ash, using Butterfree to distract the guards then put them to sleep with Sleep power was a great idea." Misty said, rather impressed with Ash's quick thinking at the time. "Now theres no time for celebration, we still need to get into the Museum and move around undetected." Thomas reminded them. Serena looked over to the two sleeping Rocket grunts, who have involuntarily started spooning, she got an idea, she pulled some black and red fabric from her bag along with a pair of scissors and a sewing kit, and she got to work. Macy looked over to Serena, "Hey, don't you think this isn't the best time to be sewing together a new outfit?" Macy asked, somewhat annoyed at the Honey-blond's antics, she replied with a simple "Shh".

The group watched in awe as Serena's hands moved at lightning speed, sowing and cutting pieces of fabric. After about 5 minutes, she was done. "Phew, looks like I did it again!" Serena giggled to herself, she then wiped a single bead of sweat from her forehead. She handed three Black uniforms to Thomas, Ash and Macy, they were perfect Team Rocket uniform replicas! "With those, you three should be able to sneak in there, act like the newest recruits, and let us in through the back door."

Ash, Thomas, and Macy quickly put the uniforms on over their clothes, they fit perfectly. Though Ash wondered how Serena knew his exact measurements. Ash and Thomas both had on a Black uniform with a gray pokeball belt, gray boots with a black cap. Macy's uniform was pretty much the same except for the pants were a skirt instead. "Wow Serena, I knew you liked clothing and fashion, but this is a whole new level." Thomas said as he examined his new outfit. "Well, it works and we can get by any of the guards in the museum" Macy said, she wasn't overly fond of all the black, but she would get over it. Though Thomas found a problem with their plan immediately, Cubone couldn't sit on his head while they were trying to be incognito. "Cubone buddy, if you want to come with us you're going to have go inside your pokeball." Thomas said as he knelt down and look at the little ground Pokemon. Cubone protested, but eventually agreed. While unlike Pikachu, Cubone didn't mind going into its pokeball if it was only for a short period of time. "Ok Cubone, return" Thomas said as he retrieved Cubone into his pokeball.

Before Ash could decide what to do with Pikachu, the little electric mouse hopped onto Serena's shoulder, vouching to stay behind with her until they could let them into the museum from the back door. "Well, ok then Pikachu you stay with Serena, you keep an eye on her to and make sure she's stays safe." Ash said to Pikachu playfully, though it made Serena blush slightly. Pikachu nodded with a little "Pika!"

* * *

The disguised trio entered the museum, there were two more Rocket grunts guarding the other side. However the two guards paid almost no attention to them as they passed by, despite their obviously younger appearance. Ash let out a deep breath, as he was holding it when they passed by the guards. Other than those two, there seemed to be no other Rocket grunts in the building. Just empty rooms filled with old fossil exhibits.

"It seems like they didn't have this place as heavily guarded as we thought, c'mon the back exit should be this way." Thomas said as he pointed down another hallway. The trio continued down that hallway until they saw a steel door at the end of it, the sigh above it said "Exit".

"Phew, we made it." Ash said as he wiped some sweat from his forehead. "That was surprisingly easy, these Rocket idiots don't even know how to keep some kids out" Macy said as she reached for the backdoor handle. However her hand stopped right before it reached it when an all too familiar voice yelled out "Hey! You three, what do you think you're doing?" The trio turned around, only to see the same three Rocket grunts they had run into in Viridian city, Jessie, James and the talking Meowth as well. Ash, Thomas and Macy froze in place. "Don't you three just stand there, explain yourselves to your superiors!" Jessie commanded. The idea of these three being their "superiors" almost made them laugh, but it would explain why their uniforms where white instead of the usual black. "Hm? Whats so funny?" James said as he leaned in to get a good look at their faces, his eyes widened in shock. "Hey! Don't we know you three twerps from somewhere?" James said as he leaned away, expecting an answer. Macy's eyes darted around the cramped hallway, when she got somewhat of a strange idea.

"To protect the world from devastation!" Macy said as she struck a pose. This left the Rockets confused, however Thomas knew exactly what she was doing.

"To unite all peoples within our nation!" Thomas said, striking a similar pose.

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the starts above!"

"Macy!"

"Thomas!"

"Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"

"Everyone else, that's right!" Ash chimed in as he placed both hands on the handle to the backdoor, it swung open as Pikachu charged in the hallway, its red cheeks charged with electricity. It zapped the slightly confused Team Rocket with a Thundershock, causing them to crumble to the ground in a Smokey pile. Misty and Serena came through the same door not a second later, they saw the extra-crispy Viridian Rocket grunts lying on the ground.

"Serves them right, attacking us in Viridian forest and now in the Museum." Serena scoffed, she turned her nose away in disgust. "It doesn't surprise me that they're here, after all this does seem to be a pretty big operation" Misty said. "I think our best bet is to find the leader, and chase him out of the museum, hopefully the grunts will follow suit".

"When we were searching through the museum for the backdoor, I remember us passing by a room labeled the regeneration lab. It was guarded by a few grunts, if anyone is leading this operation other than these three goofballs, I bet it's from inside the regeneration lab." Thomas said, he released Cubone from its pokeball. The lonely Pokemon cheered up immediately upon seeing him and jumped up onto his head.

"Alright then, it's settled. We are heading to the regeneration lab!" Ash announced, the group nodded in response.

After venturing through a few more empty rooms and some abandoned exhibits, Thomas stopped the group right around the corner from the room labeled "Regeneration Lab". Just like Thomas remembered, there were two Rocket grunts guarding the entrance. "Ok, you guys I got a plan, Ash I'm going to need help from Butterfree." Thomas said, Ash nodded as he released the little Butterfly from its pokeball, Thomas than had everyone huddle around as he told them the plan.

Thomas and Ash, still in their Team Rocket uniforms, walked up to the two grunts standing guard at the door, their hands behind their backs. One of the guards raised an eyebrow as he looked at the two. "Do you two rookies need something?" the guard replied, he sounded annoyed. Before the guards could react, Thomas and Ash took two rags they had hidden behind their backs and held them over the guard's mouths. Thomas's plan was to have Butterfree sprinkle its sleep powder on the rags, the plan seemed to work as the guards fell asleep. Thomas and Ash dragged the sleeping guards around the corner while the girls took their positions on either side of the door, Thomas and Ash joined them. Misty and Macy stood on the right side of the door while Serena and Ash stood on the left side. Thomas had his hand on the door handle and mouthed the words "Three, Two, One".

Thomas flung the door opened and yelled "Boss!" as dramatically as he could. The room was filled with high-tech machinery and computers. In the center of the room were two scientists, a normal Rocket grunt, and a Man with an almost bald head who wore an orange suit with a red tie; his eyes looked like their stare could pierce through steel.

"What, can't you see I am conducting business?" The man in the Orange suit said as he gestured to the Scientists, who looked tired and overworked. "Business? You barged in here and demanded we start created a faster way to revive fossil pokemon" one of the scientist complained. However the Rocket grunt in the room gave him a harsh stare, causing him to shrink back. Thomas continued with his little act. "Some strong pokemon trainers managed to get into the gym and are currently tearing through our remaining forces!"

The man in the orange suit sighed in an annoyed tone, "Very well, I will have to see to it myself that this problem is taken care of." The man walked over to the Rocket grunt, who picked up a suitcase off the floor and presented it to him. He opened it up and retrieved a single pokeball from it; he turned back around to face Thomas. "Now, you will take me to these Trainers so I shall crush them." The man's expression was cold and serious. Thomas nodded and started to lead the man out into hallway, where the other four waited for the ambush. When they exited the room the door shut behind them and Ash shouted "NOW". The group sent out all their Pokemon at once, which consisted of Butterfree, Pidgeotto, Pikachu, Staryu, Lizzy the Charmander, Squirtle, Cubone and Poliwag. The groups Pokemon surrounded the man, who did not seem surprised at all.

"Oh, an organized ambush, not something I would expect from a bunch of measly kids." The man said, straightening his tie. He looked at Thomas, who removed his Team Rocket uniform to reveal his usual Black jacket with his gray T-shirt. The earth necklace Macy gave to him dangled from his neck. "Ah, that was quite the act you put on back there, bravo" The man gave a small, slow clap.

"Enough talk, we challenge you to a battle!" Ash shouted at the man. He wasn't sure why the man didn't seem concerned or worried that he was surrounded by their Pokemon. The man smirked. "Arrogant child, an eight versus one match? How unfortunate, for you." A flash of white light appeared as the man pressed the release button on the single pokeball he held in his hand. A very large purple, bipedal pokemon appeared. It had large ears and an even larger purple horn sticking out from its head. It opened its mouth to let out a loud roar, a row of sharp pointed teeth were exposed. The appearance of such a powerful force caused the groups Pokemon to take a step back, but they were far from backing down.

"A Nidoking." Thomas said in awe as he marveled at such a powerful pokemon. However, now was not the time to gawk over the opponent's Pokemon or try to scan it with his pokedex.

"Thomas, pay attention!" Macy snapped as she noticed Thomas was staring at the Nidoking. This caused the man in the orange suit to chuckle. "You children have no idea who your messing with, Nidoking, use Sludge Wave" the man said as he turned to go back into the room from which he came.

"Hey! Where do you think you're going?" Ash shouted as he rushed towards the man, Serena followed him, but Nidoking stopped them. In its palm a huge orb of purple energy was forming, when it was ready Nidoking smashed it into the ground, a huge wave of poison sludge washed over the group and their Pokemon, everything went dark.

* * *

Ash woke up in a panicked frenzy, he was sweating like crazy. He looked around; he was in a room at the Pokemon center? His head was pounding as he was trying to remember what happened. He remembered being attacked by Nidoking's Sludge wave and that was about it.

"Pikachu? Pikachu where are you?" Ash began to call as he looked around the room for the little electric mouse, remembering it had been there when they were attacked. Soon he remembered that all his friends were hit by Nidoking's attack as well, he began to worry for their wellbeing. He left his room and looked through the other rooms at the Pokémon center as well, he couldn't find any of his friends. He then remembered that this Pokemon center had a fully stocked kitchen with tables, cooking utensils and everything, Serena loved to cook and Thomas loved to eat, so where else could they be? He headed off towards the kitchen.

He sighed in relief as he found his friends in the kitchen, however something was off. Misty was sitting at the table holding a bag of ice to her forehead. Thomas's face was pale and he hadn't touched his food, and Macy was cooking instead of Serena, he soon found out why that was. Serena entered the room with her arm in a sling. "What happened to everyone?" Ash yelled in shock.

"Shhhhhh! Ash Ketchum don't be so loud! I got a killer headache." Misty hissed as she reapplied the bag of ice to her forehead. Thomas looked over to Ash, his face still pale and his eyes where barely open. "It's the effects of Nidoking's poison, it seemed to have taken its toll on all of us, except for Macy it seems" he said groggily. "Nidoking's poison did that?" Ash said in disbelief as he pointed to Serena's broken arm, she blushed slightly

"Nidoking didn't do that, you did Ash!" Macy snapped as she continued to flip pancakes. Ash took a step back, shocked. No way he could have done that to Serena, could he?

"It's not like he did it on purpose!" Serena snapped back, she turned to ask Ash if he remembered what happened, he shrugged, signaling that he had no clue.

"Well, when Nidoking attack us with Sludge wave, you tackled me to the ground to protect me, but you broke my arm in the process." Serena recalled. Despite being happy that he didn't mean to break her arm and that it happened by accident, he still felt guilty about it.

"Hey, but wait, where are our Pokemon?"

**Next up...Chapter 11- Recovery**


	11. Author's Note

**-Update-**

Howdy y'all. I would like to apologize for not updating this story in over 4 months and I'm going to answer a few questions people have asked me about my story. Also someone has asked me If I have a shipping name for my OCs Thomas and Macy. So I decided to let you guys decide on the Shipping name, Message me with your suggestion or leave it in the review section and I will pick the best one.

* * *

**Are you planning on Continuing this story?**

Yes, I do. I'm in the middle of writing the next chapter now and it should be posted either later tonight or tomorrow.

**Does this story contain Amourshipping? Will Thomas and Macy also eventually become a couple?**

Yes, this story does contain Amourshipping. I will not answer if any of them get into a relationship anytime in the story, for that my friend is a spoiler :)

**What are Tag Battle Tournaments? I'm confused.**

I apologize for being so vague about that. Tag Battle tournaments are similar to Pokemon contests in a way that there are a multitude of them that are held around the region in towns and cities. But Contestants Team up into pairs and partake in double battles against another Team. A maximum of 16 Teams are allowed to enter each tournament. There are 8 Blocks and 2 teams are put into each Block and have to have a tag battle against each other. The system is set up Tournament style, meaning the Winning Team has to battle another Team that also Won their first battle and so on.

**Will Brock travel with the group like he does in the Anime?**

I have mention this in the previous chapter. The group now is rather large and its hard to make every character feel relevant to each chapter. So I put up a poll on my Profile asking if people would like to see Brock travel with them, or occasionally show up throughout the story to offer the group advice and help. The results of the Poll are in its been decided that Brock will not be a traveling companion.

**Your story seems similar to "The Road to be a Pokemon Master:Kanto Arc" By FanaticLAguy06, whats with that?**

I am a big fan of that story and my story is inspired by it, I am However by no means stealing content from that story and If It seems that way I do apologize. Our stories share similar Ideas but they are different in most respects. It a great story and I highly suggest you guys check it out.

**Will the group rotate Pokemon? And will Ash catch any non-canon Pokemon?**

Yes, I do plan on having Ash and Thomas rotate Pokémon and every member of the group catch a full team of 6. (Except for Misty)

**Will you be writing chapters or specials for the Pokemon Movies?**

I have thought about it and I might do that, we will just have to see.

* * *

Thats about it for the questions, If you guys have anymore please feel free to ask me via PM or in the review section, I will try to answer them as quickly as possible. Have a Good day!  
-MCcheif25


	12. Chapter 11: Rebound and Mt Moon

**Author's Note: First off, I would really like to apologize for taking so ridiculously long to upload this chapter. My internet went out for a few weeks and my computer crashed, deleting all the progress of Chapter 11-14. Meaning updates will be pretty slow as I recover from that terrible crash. I worked a lot of this Chapter. Serena or Macy (not saying which one) captures their first pokemon this chapter and more insight into Thomas and Macy's childhood from when they lived in Cinnabar island is revealed. **

* * *

Chapter 11  
Rebound and Mt. Moon

One week has passed since the group had taken on Team Rocket at the Pewter City Museum. Even though they were ultimately defeated and injured by the Team Rocket boss's Nidoking, their actions were enough to scare them out of Pewter City. The group had decided to stay at the Pewter City Pokémon center while themselves and their Pokémon healed from their injuries. The group had just woken up and met in the Pokémon Centers cafeteria for some breakfast, all except for Ash.

"Ahhhh, It feels great not having to wear that cast anymore." Serena yawned as she stretched her arms.

"Yeah, its amazing how quickly it healed, considering you busted it pretty badly." Thomas said between bites of his pancakes. His breakfast plate looking like a horror scene and bits of pancake all over his face. He paused to let out a satisfied belch.

"Charming.." Misty muttered sarcastically under her breath as she continued to look on in horror as Thomas continued to murder the rest of his pancakes. Cubone sweatdropped at the poor table manners of his trainer, but paid his attention back towards its bowl of Pokémon food. Serena and Macy just giggled at the antics of their gluttonous childhood friend.

Their peaceful breakfast was soon interrupted when Ash, followed by his partner Pikachu, ran into the cafeteria and slammed his hands on the table, panting and clearly out of breath.

"You guys...need...to see this.." Ash gasped as he was trying to catch his breath. He led the group outside and pointed towards the sky, there was a small flock of dark colored bird Pokémon flying above the Pokemon center.

"So what Ash? Their just bird Pokemon, nothing to be alarmed about." Thomas said, bits of pancake still covered his face and his partner Cubone resting on top his messy mound of blond hair.

"Yeah Ash, why take us out here to gawk at a flock of birds?" Macy questioned, slowly inching her way closer to Thomas.

"You would see why if you tried to scan them with your Pokedex." Ash replied, confident his little discovery will shock the group.

"Okay then." Thomas said with a confused look. he took out his Pokedex and aimed it up at the flock of bird Pokemon, the searched results came up blank and the Pokedex stated that the flock of bird Pokémon they encountered had not been documented yet.

"Not documented? So like, A new species of Pokemon?" Serena asked, puzzled.

"Exactly! Isn't that exciting?" Ash said, pumping his fists in the air with excitement. If they had discovered a new species of Pokemon, Professor Oak would surely be very happy, not to mention he could rub it in Gary's face.

"Indeed, I would love a chance to get a closer look." Thomas said. Though he was about to regret saying it out loud.

High above the Pokémon center, one of the bird Pokémon happened to look down at the group and noticed a shiny glimmer of something valuable hanging around Thomas's neck. It decided to make a dive for it, straight towards the group.

Seeing the bird Pokémon dive towards them, the group scattered in panic, except for Thomas who stood still in front of the Pokemon center and Macy, who latched onto Thomas's arm in fear as flashbacks from the Fearow incident on route 1 flowed through her mind. This surprised him and caused Thomas to shift his attention from the Bird Pokémon to his terrified Best friend for a split second. However, before the Bird Pokémon could make contact, Cubone leaped into action and swatted it down when it got close enough, Knocking it unconscious.

Thomas noticed this and quickly used his free arm to unclip a empty pokeball from his belt and throw it at the Bird Pokémon. The ball shook three times and let out its signature 'Ding' to let him know the capture was successful.

Thomas let out a deep sigh and turned his attention to Macy, who still was latched to his arm and had her eyes sealed shut. "Its okay, I caught it, you can let go now." Thomas said sheepishly. Macy opened her eyes to see what she had done, she quickly let go and used her long hair to hide the blush that formed on her face.

* * *

The group re-gathered back in front of the Pokémon Center to inspect the Pokémon Thomas has just caught.

"That Pokémon just charged right at us, that isn't a normal thing for bird Pokémon to do is it?" Serena questioned, eying the flock of bird Pokémon that still flew above their heads. She really didn't want a repeat of what just happened.

"Well didn't you guys get attack by a flock of Bird Pokémon on the route outside of Viridian city?" Misty recalled, the first time she met the group was in the Viridian city Pokémon center after they were attacked by a flock of Spearow and a Fearow on route 1.

"Yeah, but we kinda provoked them when I tried to catch one by accident." Ash said, rubbing the back of his head with embarrassment, remembering how he almost got all four of them killed.

"Well this is a new species of Pokémon we are dealing with, we don't know how they react to people." Thomas said, closely inspected the pokeball his new Pokémon was contained in, as if he could see it from the outside.

Just as Thomas said that Nurse Joy poked her head out of the front doors of the Pokémon Center.

"Hope I'm not interrupting anything, but Ash you got a call waiting from Professor Oak." The pink haired Nurse said in a gleeful tone.

Ash's face light up, he hasn't talked to the professor since they left on their journey about 3 weeks ago. Everyone else was pretty excited too, especially Thomas who wanted to ask about the new pokemon he captured.

Inside the pokemon center, the group stood in front of a ATM-like machine with a small screen. Struggling to make sure they all could see the screen.

Professor Oak's face appeared on the screen, his shiny lab equipment visible in the background.

"Hi Professor!" The entire group said in unison, except for Misty who had disappeared all of a sudden.

"Hello Children." The old professor said with a warm smile. "How have you been doing? Its been quite a while."

"We're doing fine, just got a little caught up with something in Pewter City." Ash said carefully, not wanted to let the Professor know about their involvement with stopping Team Rocket.

"Well I'm glad to hear it, I trust that all your Pokémon are doing well also?" asked. Interested in how well the new trainers have bonded with their pokemon.

"Well you should see for yourself Professor, C'mon guys lets show him." Ash said, the group nodded and released their pokemon, though Pikachu rested on Ash's shoulder and Cubone sat on top of Thomas's messy hair. There was Macy's Charmander, Serena's Squirtle, Ash's Pidgeotto and Butterfree as well as Thomas's Poliwag.

"My my, your Pokémon look quite healthy and happy." The Professor commented. However he frowned when he noticed that Thomas still had an occupied pokeball clipped to his belt. "What about that one? Why haven't you released it?" he asked.

"Oh, thats actually something I need to talk to you about professor." Thomas said as he unclipped the pokeball containing the unidentified pokemon from his belt. He moved to the front of the group and took Ash's place in front of the screen.

"I just caught this Pokémon outside the center a few minutes ago when it attacked us, the interesting thing is that the pokedex couldn't identify it." Thomas explained.

"Ah ha! That reminds me on why I called in the first place." Professor Oak said. "Many new Pokémon species have been discovered in a far away region, more surprisingly is that some of these new species have been migrating to the Kanto region for unknown reasons." The professor explained.

"Whoa really?" Ash said as he eyes lit up with excitement, this meant more types of unique Pokémon for him to catch and train.

"So does that mean you might be able to identify this Pokémon I caught?" Thomas asked. Wanting to know more about his new party member.

"Most likely yes, as well as its typing and behavior, now let me see it." The old professor said excitedly, he had only seen pictures and read research papers on most of these new Pokémon.

"Okay then." Thomas said as he reluctantly pressed the release button on the pokeball, there was a flash of light and a dark colored bird Pokémon appeared and landed on Thomas's shoulder. It seemed to be a lot more calm then when it attacked them earlier. It had glossy black feathers and a crooked yellow beak as well as feathery tufts on the back of its head that resembled a witches hat.

"Ah, A Murkrow, a very...interesting pokemon." Professor Oak said with a hint of concern in his voice, Thomas took note of this.

"Well can you tell me a little bit more about Murkrow? Like its typing?" Thomas asked, pressing for more information.

"Haha, still as curious as ever, I bet your appetite is still as large." Professor Oak remarked. He remembered the pokemon summer camp he ran many years ago, Thomas had eaten more than half the camps food supply and they had to order more so every camper could eat."Murkrow is know as the Darkness pokemon, its a Dark and Flying type and is said to bring bad luck as well as steal jewelry from people."

"What? Is that why it attacked me?" Thomas said as he looked down at his necklace he was wearing, it was a gift from Macy and was meant to be a good luck charm for his first gym battle. Murkrow must have spotted it from above and got the sneaky idea to try and steal it.

"Most likely yes, they are known to be trouble makers." Professor Oak said. Hearing this remark, Murkrow squawked as a sign of its disapproval of the Professors lowly opinion of it.

"Hehe, no hard feelings Murkrow, thats just what I've heard." The professor chuckled nervously. The Darkness pokemon decided to accept that as an apology, but still glared at the professor in disapproval.

"Is that it Professor? That can't be the only thing you called us for." Serena said. She was wondering how they would be able handle these new pokemon if their pokedexs didn't have any information on them.

"Not quite." The professor said. "If you children are in Pewter City, then your next destination should be Cerulean City. In that case you need to visit a friend of mine, a Pokemaniac named Bill. He should be able to update your pokedexs with information on these new Pokémon for you."

"A Pokemaniac? Sounds interesting, thanks Professor!" Ash said excitedly and hung up the phone without thinking twice. The group sweatdropped as Ash just hung up on the most famous Pokémon researcher out of impatience.

"Ash..." Serena said as she stared at him, dumbfounded.

"Hm? What is it?" Ash replied, a sparkle of excitement in his eyes.

"Nothing." Serena said, she decided not to point out his mistake as it would just result in an awkward call-back and a possible scolding by Professor Oak. The rest of the group decided not to point it out either and just let Ash have his moment of excitement.

"I guess that means our next destination is Cerulean City, and then after that Vermillion City." Thomas said. He turned to Macy. "Remember Vermillion City? It was stunningly beautiful." Thomas said as he remembered when he and Macy still lived on Cinnabar Island. Their parents had worked together at the Cinnabar research lab and were great friends. Which is why they basically grew up together and knew everything about each other. During their Parents vacation days, they would all take the Ferry to Vermillion City and enjoy the Beach-side City.

"Yeah I do, I also remember you eating all my Ice cream we got at one of the beach vendors." Macy puffed her cheeks in anger. Though she seemed angry, it was actually one of her favorite memories. She and Thomas were only 7 at the time, but they had an unbreakable friendship, neither of their parents could keep them separated for very long. They were running around on the beach, each one with a cone of ice cream in their hands. Thomas tricked Macy into looking in the direction of the ocean while he snatched the Ice cream cone from her hand and swallowed it in one bite. Most girl Macy's age would have cried, but even at 7 years old she had a temper. She picked up a small plastic shovel used for building sandcastles and chased after Thomas with it, screaming that she would avenge her Ice cream.

Ash and Serena sometimes forget that their friends weren't from Pallet Town, Serena herself sometimes forgets that she isn't even from the Kanto region. She was from Kalos, but Kanto always felt like more of a home to her.

There was a collective chatter of Pokémon calls from behind the group of young trainers. The turned around to notice that they had not returned their Pokémon from when they were showing them to Professor Oak.

"Whoops, thanks for reminding us guys." Ash said as he and the others prepared to retrieve their Pokémon. Except for Pikachu and Cubone, who stayed out with their trainers.

Murkrow was still perched on Thomas's shoulder, the bird was moderately large and Thomas had a little trouble supporting its size and weight. Thomas prepared to retrieve Murkrow back into its Pokeball. The bird squawked in protest but was sucked into the Pokeball in a flash of scarlet light. Cubone seemed to relax a little bit more now that the Darkness Pokémon was safely back in its pokeball.

"So, have you decided what to do with Murkrow? According to the professor it might be a pain to raise." Ash asked Thomas, who had already decided on his answer.

"Well I've already decided to keep Murkrow as part of my team, It seems pretty strong and it would be great to have more variety on my team." Thomas said. He noticed Serena and Macy were looking at the ground shamefully. They were planning to enter the Tag Battle Tournament in Cerulean City, but neither of them have caught a second Pokémon yet.

"Don't you two worry." Thomas said, sensing that the two were upset about not having caught more Pokemon. "We still have to pass through to get to Cerulean, there will be plenty Pokémon there to capture." Hearing this, the two girls seemed to perk up a little bit.

"Yeah! Don't you worry, you two will have plenty of Pokémon in no time!" Ash shouted enthusiastically. Pikachu nodded in agreement, sparks flying from its cheeks as a sign of excitement.

"Well then, what are we waiting for! Lets go!" Macy said, the fiery redhead filled with new energy.

"Yeah, I heard there are lots of shops in Cerulean too!" Serena said with a twinkle in her eyes, the girl sure loved shopping. But she realized something was wrong. The honey blonde looked around and noticed someone was missing. "Hey, where did Misty go?" she said.

The group spent the next hour looking for the missing Water trainer. They didn't find her anywhere and Thomas tried to call her on his new Pokenav he bought at one of the stores in Pewter, but she didn't answer. The device was manufactured in a region that he forgot the name of, but it could do all sorts of stuff like tell them where they are on the map among other things. It sure was expensive though.

The group met up at the front of the Pokémon center after searching practically the whole city. "I can't find her anywhere, I sent Pidgeotto out to look for her from the sky and he didn't find anything." Ash said despairingly.

"I'm sure shes fine, she an experienced trainer and can take care of herself." Thomas said. He was munching on a pretzel he bought from one of the nearby vendors.

"Thomas is right, we need to get to Cerulean City ASAP. After all Misty just tagged along because you destroyed her bike." Macy scowled. Ash reacted with a scowl of his own, but quickly relaxed and nodded. "I suppose you guys are right." Ash replied.

"Good, then lets get going." Macy said. Even though she wasn't very fond of Misty because of her constant complaining and occasional rude attitude, she still felt a little bit of guilt leaving the water trainer behind. She wasn't the only one though, the entire group felt a little bit of guilt gnawing at them as they walked down the road to Mt. Moon.

* * *

Mt. Moon loomed over the group, its peaks pierced the clouds, giving the impression that it is touching the sky.

"Whoa, I heard Mt. Moon was impressive, but this is amazing." Thomas marveled. Cubone continued to snore from inside Thomas's bag.

"It sure is, think of all the Pokémon that live here too!" Ash said with excitement, he couldn't wait to see more new Pokémon like Thomas's Murkrow.

"Yeah, it would be lovely to catch my first Pokémon here." Serena said. Macy nodded in agreement, though she was getting the feeling something was watching them.

"Yeah but we didn't see a single Pokémon on the way here, thats kinda odd don't you think?" Thomas said. He started examining the rocks that lay scattered around the area. He noticed they had deep gashes in them, his eyes widened as he realized they entered the territory of a dangerous Pokémon.

Before Thomas could shout a warning. Macy had trusted her gut and released her Charmander, Lizzy.

"Lizzy, Use Flamethrower down that cave entrance there!" She shouted. The orange fire lizard obeyed and shot a steady stream of red flames down the mouth of a nearby cave.

"Macy no!" Thomas shouted, Serena and Ash continued to stand around with a puzzled look on there face. When suddenly the ground started to shake and there was a piercing roar.

"RHHHHHHHHHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!" the thunderous roar erupted from the cave as a monstrous Rhyhorn charged out of the cave Lizzy just turned into a sauna, completely unaffected by the lizard's searing flames. Unlike Brock's Rhyhorn, this creature was larger and more rugged, symbolizing that it was pretty old.

"Macy get out of the way!" Thomas shouted, running towards his friend who stood paralyzed out of fear from the sight of the charging monster. Lizzy stood its ground, awaiting commands from Macy who was unable to give any. Lucky for her Serena and Ash jumped in.

"Pikachu, Quick attack and then Iron tail hurry!" Ash shouted.

"Squirtle come out and use Water gun!" Serena yelled as she released her starter.

Pikachu bolted at the charging Rhyhorn and smashed into it with his tail. The super effective attack didn't even faze the creature, but it did get its attention. It stop charging and turned to face Serena and Ash, it was greeted by a Water gun in the face by Squirtle.

"Uh, we really don't have a plan do we Ash?" Serena whispered, trying not to move as the monstrosity of a Rhyhorn stared them down.

"Nope, I'm sorta used to just doing things on the spot ya know?" He whispered back, trying to stay as still as possible.

Squirtle and Pikachu continued to stare down the elderly Rhyhorn. The younger Pokémon knew they didn't stand a chance against it by themselves, they were going to need some help.

Suddenly, a black bird pokemon landed on Rhyhorns giant horn. It was Thomas's Murkrow. Murkrow gave the Rhyhorn a mischievous smile and began to taunt it and peck it in the face. The spikes Pokémon became angry and trashed around wildly, becoming confused in its own fury. Murkrow flew high in the air to avoid the aggressive trashing of the elderly rock Pokémon.

"Nice Swagger Murkrow, now Foul Play!" Thomas shouted. The darkness pokemon obeyed and became enveloped in a dark aura. Murkrow slammed into confused Rhyhorn, knocking it back with huge force.

The Rhyhorn recovered from the blow but before it could react it was bombarded by attacks from the groups Pokemon. Macy had recovered from the shock of the encounter and was commanding Lizzy to attack using its new Metal Claw technique.

The powerful Rhyhorn was barely able to get back up when the groups Pokemon stopped attacking. Serena decided to seize this opportunity to capture a new team member. She unclipped a pokeball from her belt and prepared to throw it, but a sudden jolt of pain lept up her arm as she pulled it back. Her arm still wasn't fully healed from her injury, so she decided to copy a technique she saw used on TV by some 'Capture expert' from Johto.

She placed the pokeball on the ground and kicked it with full force. The pokeball hit the Rhyhorn square in the face and absorbed the spikes Pokémon in a flash of scarlet light. The ball shook a few times, and let out a satisfying 'ding' to signal the successful capture of the Pokémon. The group and their Pokémon let out a collective sigh and collapsed on the ground. If all the Pokemon in Mt. Moon were this strong, they were going to have one hell of a time.

* * *

**Ha! I bet you didn't expect that for Serena's first capture! I also decided to have Serena adopt the same capture method as Crystal from the Pokemon Adventures manga because I always like the Idea of kicking a pokeball to score a capture. As its said in the chapter many times her Rhyhorn is a pretty old pokemon as well as powerful. Serena will have a hard time controlling it but it still will listen to her commands. Also you may have noticed I'm going to start slipping in pokemon from other regions, but nothing past 3rd generation for this story arc. Also before you ask, no Misty is not going to be gone forever, she will be back but not until the group makes it to Cerulean City. If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to ask me in the review section. Next Chapter should be up around the same time next week!  
Next up: Chapter 12- Royal Fury.**


	13. Apologies

Hello everyone, its been about one and a half years since y'all have heard anything from me and I am mighty sorry about my lack of communication. The last year and a half has been very very busy for me and I lost time and interest in this story.

But that is not why I am writing this. I've noticed that even without constant updates, people still send me reviews and subscribe to my story, meaning that people enjoy it, which is something I actually never imagined since I started this project just for fun.

Basically what I want to know is, do you guys, the readers, want me to continue this story? I put a poll up on my profile so vote there if you wish and drop a comment about my story and what you like about it, it helps motivate me to write.

Thank you guys, I apologize for the long Hiatus, but I'm back and eager to write for you all.  
-MCcheif25


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